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Charles Wilding Conolly
51189, Lance Corporal, 1/4th Northumberland Fusiliers (Territorial Force)
Died whilst a prisoner of war, 13 August 1918, aged 36
Buried at Glageon Communal Cemetery, France
CWGC registered (Son of Alfred Conolly [Solicitor, Llandudno], and Catherine, his wife; husband of Mary Summers Conolly, of “Dunelm,” Linden Rd, Gosforth, Newcastle-on-Tyne)
Charles Wilding Conolly was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire in 1882. He was the son of Alfred Conolly, a clerk and solicitor, and his wife Catherine (née Skerrit). Catherine Conolly died in 1889 and the 1891 Census records Charles living at the home of his grandmother, Ellen Conolly, in Oldham, Lancashire – Charles is described a scholar. The same census records his father Alfred boarding at Barrowby in Lincolnshire. In 1901, Alfred married Ethel Margaret Twigg and the census of the same year records Alfred and Ethel living at “Hyddfyd Lodge”, Great Orme’s Head, Llandudno – Alfred was the Town Clerk of Llandudno. The same Census of 1901 records Charles (18) boarding at Wem in Shropshire and employed as a bank clerk. Ten years later, Charles was boarding at 22 King’s Avenue, Old Talbot Road, Stretford, Lancashire and his father and stepmother then living at “Barrowby”, Roumania Crescent, Llandudno. In the same year, 1911, Charles married Mary Summers Allan at North Shields, Northumberland and their child Katherine Mary Conolly was born in the spring of 1914 at Prestwich in Lancashire. Katherine’s baptismal record (24 May 1914) indicates that the family lived at 21 Fort Road, Sedgely Park, Prestwich and that Charles was still employed as a bank clerk.
There is some evidence that Charles and his family moved to Leeds: Soldiers Died in the Great War records that he enlisted in Leeds and the National Probate Calendar for 1919 records that his address was 35, Gledhow, Wood Grove, Roundhay, Leeds. The former publication records that when Charles Conolly died he was in the 1/4th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers Territorial Force and that his regimental number was 51189. Many soldiers with close numbers were enlisted around the end of 1915, put into the Reserve and mobilised in mid-1917. The medal rolls indicate that these soldiers were allocated to various battalions, regular, new army and territorial on arrival in France, in around October 1917. The precise date when Charles disembarked in France is presently unknown as is the date he was promoted to lance corporal. Charles was in the line with his battalion on 27 May 1918 near Concevreux during the German offensive now known as the Battle of the Aisne. The 4th was annihilated with the majority of the men being either killed or captured. Charles Conolly was reported as missing in action that day. Three Red Cross prisoner of war index cards for Charles Conolly give his missing date as 27 May 1918 and that enquiries had been made from the War Information Office, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Brigadier General Sir Owen Thomas MP, and Charles’ wife Mary S Conolly of “Dunelm”, Lyndon Road, Gosforth, Newcastle-on-Tyne. The results for all three enquiries were negative. Nevertheless, it was subsequently discovered that Charles Conolly had died whilst a prisoner of war on 13 August 1918 aged 38 and was buried at Glageon Communal Cemetery, in northern France, close to the Belgian border.
The statistics for Glageon Communal Cemetery (and its extension) make for grim reading. It was the resting place for German, British, Italian, American, French and Russian soldiers. The presence of Russian soldiers indicates that they must have been used for forced labour. Only the British and Russian graves remain and of those graves that are named, 111 are of Russian soldiers who died between November 1917 and October 1918; and 345 are of British soldiers who died between May 1918 and October 1918. In the month of October 1918 alone, 18 Russian soldiers and 119 British soldiers died. Normally German record-keeping would be considered very good but nothing has been found concerning the burials at Glageon. From diaries and other sources, it would appear that the Glageon burials were from a German hospital at Trélon, a mile or two to the east, where conditions at the end of the war were particularly bad. An American soldier reported: “…the hospital was a converted woollen mill. Food was scarce and very poor as evidenced by many deaths from starvation. Anywhere from four to seven were buried every day!”
Mary Conolly married Ammon Sykes in 1932 and died at Sunderland on 2 July 1975.
Known memorials:
- Llandudno Roll of Honour
- Llandudno War Memorial
- Memorial Chapel, Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno
- Llanrhos Parish War Memorial, All Saints’ Church, Deganwy
- Leeds Roll of Honour
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