|
Frederick William Phillips HazellFrederick William Phillips Hazell was born in Frampton on 7 May 1897, the first of William Hazell and Susan née Phillips' three children. Home was Yew Tree House, The Street, but William, a fisherman, was often away working; the 1911 census records him in the Wye at Chepstow on board Industry. Meanwhile, at the age of 13, Fred was still at school.
Only fragments of Fred's official service record survive; his Silver War Badge card and roll, and confirmation of a period of furlough (leave). His sister, Dorothy, kept a notebook during the war period from which some additional information has been gleaned. Fred enlisted on 15 January 1916, but he may not have been called up until 16 May, the date given by Dorothy for his entry into the Army, being posted to the Worcestershire Regiment. She recorded his address (without a date) as '27 Room B Coy, 5 Batt: Worcestershire Regt, Tregantle Fort, Plymouth'. This was a training establishment; many of its rifle ranges slope steeply towards the sea and are still in use today. After training he was probably posted to the 4th Battalion during the Somme campaign; certainly by 9 August 1917 he was in Britain for treatment when his mother wrote to him at the VAD hospital at Abbey Manor, Evesham: 'We were disappointed not to hear from you this morning, as we are anxious to know the Dr's report, hope you are feeling better.' By October he had been transferred to Croydon War Hospital. At this stage he was serving with the 4th Battalion and in the rank of acting (or temporary) lance corporal. He was given nine days leave, no doubt a welcome relief to both him and his family. As a result of his wounds, Fred was discharged from the Army on 11 October 1918 in his substantive rank of private in the 3rd Battalion, and was given the Silver War Badge. He was later awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal and, like his brother, Ralph Theodore, his war service is commemorated on the plaque in the village hall. After the war Fred ran a shop on the village green, the site of a hairdressers in recent years. Numerous villagers, many of them youngsters, worked there and helped with the deliveries. After retirement from the grocery business, Fred moved to Dorset where, well into his sixties, he married Freda Antell. Frederick William Phillips Hazell died in the Poole area in 1982. |