Four Families of the Fallen

Name: George Wills

Description: 5ft 4, brown hair and blue eyes

Pre-war occupation: Labourer (painter)

Address: The Saxons, Dorchester Road, Weybridge

Killed at sea: 15th Oct 1914

Age at death: 22

Military service history: George enlisted for the Royal Navy in May 1911 for 12 years service as a Second Class Stoker. This was a physically demanding role involving shovelling coal into the boilers of the vessels. The following year, for good conduct, he was promoted to the First Class Stoker and received a small pay increase.

In February 1914 he was transferred from HMS Dido and, after a short stint on shore, he joined the crew of HMS Hawke. On board, he served as a First Class Stoker in the ship’s main boiler room. On 15 October 1914, while receiving mail from another ship, HMS Hawke was sunk by a torpedo fired from a German submarine.

Name: Albert Frank Knapp

Address: Heath House, Station Road, Weybridge

Pre-war occupation: Gamekeeper for Mr Charles Coombe of Painshill Park, Cobham

Married: Annie Hoare on 28 February 1911

Children: Albert James Knapp, born 17 December 1911, and Walter Knapp, born 10 August 1913

Military service history: Frank conscripted to the British Army 10th Battalion of the 3rd Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment on 29 May 1916. He completed Basic Training at Aldershot in September then his fellow solders were loaded on to three trains bound for Southampton. At Southampton they caught a ship to Le Havre and despatched to the Somme.

The 10th Ballation fought in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette from 15-22 September. During this time, Frank Knapp was reported as missing, but his body was never found.

Name: Harold Vernon Brown

Address: Lulworth, Minorca Road, Weybridge

Pre-war occupation: Clerk at the Law Society

Age at death: 25

Military service history: Joined the 8th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment (later attached to the 11th Battalion). Fought in the Battle of Chisery on 3 May 1917 near Arras.

During the battle he went missing on the battlefield. At the end of May 1917 he was confirmed Killed in Action.

As well as being commemorated in Weybridge, 2nd Lt Harold Vernon is commemorated on the official Arras memorial.

Name: Howard Willis

Address: Brighton Cottage, Elmgrove Road, Weybridge

Age at death: 21

Pre-war occupation: Civil Servant Clerk, later Admiralty Clerk

Military service history: At the outbreak of the war, Howard Willis worked at the Admiralty in Whitehall. In August 1917 however, he was selected from more than 6000 applicants to complete pilot training with the Royal Naval Air Service.

As a Probationary Flying Officer, he attended ground school at Crystal Palace before being deployed to Vendome, France and then to Cranwell, Lincolnshire.

On 13 January, while conducting a photo-reconnaissance mission from Dunkirk, Willis’ plane crashed. He suffered severe burns and died two days later in a French hospital.