Busswell, Francis

Age: 20
Date of birth: 1896

Parents: William and Ann Busswell nee Latham
Wife: Single
Address: 2 Edward Street, Warwick

Occupation: Not known

 

Francis Busswell was born in 1896 to parents William and Ann and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 5th July 1896.  At that time, the family were living at 49 Saltisford.

By the 1901 Census the family was still living in the Saltisford and William was working as a gardener.  Also living at that address with Francis’ were his mother Ann and his older sister, Emily Isabel (born 1887).  Ann was a shopkeeper of a small general store in Warwick.

Francis must have attended Warwick School, as his name is listed on the 1914-1918 memorial in the school’s chapel.

By 1911, Francis’ sister, Emily, was working as an Elementary Teacher.

Warwick Advertiser 2nd June 1917
Warwick Advertiser 2nd June 1917

 

Although the family lived at 49 Saltisford for a long time, which was very unusual amongst the families of Warwick’s fallen, they had moved to 2 Edward Street at the time of Francis’ death in 1917.

Francis’ sister, Emily married Thomas Taylor Bromwich and went on to have five children.  The eldest, Ronald Anthony (known as Tony), was born in November 1916 whilst Francis was in hospital in Manchester, recuperating from a head wound.  Francis was very proud of his nephew and mentions him in many of his letters to his sister.

Francis’ father, William died in 1935 and his mother followed in 1941.

Emily’s husband, Tom Bromwich, served on Warwick Council for many years and was Mayor for two consecutive years from 1949 to 1951, during which time  Emily was Mayoress, and carried out a considerable number of public engagements.  Tom was elected as an Alderman in 1953.  He died in1957.

Emily died in 1966 and was living at 5 Cape Road at the time.

 

Military Service

Rank & Number: Private, 15/1575
Regiment/Service: 11th (Service) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Brigade/Division: 112th Brigade, 37th Division
Date of death: Wednesday, April 25, 1917
Cause of death/Battle: Killed in action at the Battle of Arras
Commemorated/Buried: Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais
Awards: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Commemorated locally at: St Pauls Church, Warwick School

 

Francis enlisted in 1915, against the wishes of his mother. From November of that year to March 1916, Francis trained in Chisledon camp in Wiltshire with the 17th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.  He embarked at Folkstone around March 16th before joining the 15th Battalion RWR in France.

 

 

 

On the 22nd April, Francis sent a card confirming he had received the cigarettes the family had sent him.  This was one of many cards and letters that Francis sent, mostly to his sister Emily.  These were censored, but many still convey the horror of the conditions the soldiers endured.

Francis wrote home on June 22nd describing his first experience of battle where 400 of the 900 men in the battalion had been killed.

More action followed and in early September 1916 Francis sustained severe head wounds during the Battle of the Somme and was sent back to a hospital in West Didsbury, Manchester and then Rochdale to recuperate.  Whilst there, he formed an attachment to a nurse, who was several years older than him, as well as making many friends amongst his fellow patients.

In January 1917, Francis was sent to the Isle of Wight for further training before returning to the Front on the 31st of the month with the 11th Battalion of the Warwickshires.  He was able to spend a few days at Mers-le-Bain before resuming active service.

Francis was posted as Missing in late April but a letter sent by Francis’ Platoon Commander, H.H.L. Hallett on 17th May 1917 confirmed that he had ‘died of wounds’.  A further letter from the Senior Commanding Officer, M. J. Bissell, on the 25th May, 1917 confirmed this information and gave details of Francis’ death at the Battle of Arras on April 25th

 

This information was provided by Francis’ Great Niece Jennifer Jones nee Bromwich.  Jennifer’s Grandmother, Emily, was Francis’ only sister and kept all letters and postcards received from Francis during his military service for her whole life.  The letters were passed on to Emily’s son, Tony (Jennifer’s father) and eventually to Jennifer, who has compiled them in a book ‘In Memory of Francis Busswell (1896-1917)’.  Copies of this book have been donated to the Warwickshire County Record Office and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum, Warwick

 

Contributors

  • Unlocking Warwick Research Group
  • Heartfelt thanks to Francis’ Great Niece – for a copy of her book entitled “Francis Busswell 1896-1917 by Jennifer Jones (nee Bromwich) September 2016” – which contained the photograph of Francis and so much personal information which would otherwise have been lost.
  • Warwick Advertiser excerpt courtesy of Warwickshire County Record Office

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