Francis (or Frank) William Gaunt

Died of wounds on 4 October 1916, aged 27

Private, East Surrey Regiment, 8th Battalion

Service no. 17093

Remembered at Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport, Seine-Maritime, France

British Army Service Record

Window cleaner Francis William Gaunt enlisted on 4 December 1915 at Kingston-upon-Thames. He stated that he had previously served with the 18th Battalion of the London Regiment.

Notes

He was one month shy of his 27th birthday.

Like many recruits, he was diminutive, only 5 feet 3 inches tall, with a 34 inch chest (with 2 inches expansion).

Gaunt's father Rann Dolphin Gaunt was a druggist. In 1915 the family was living at 14 Park Court, Park Road, Clapham.

Gaunt died after he received a gunshot wound to his right thigh and gas gangrene set in. Gas gangrene, so named because the wound or site of trauma fills with air under the skin, was sudden and dramatic. It produced painful swelling, blisters and a foul smell. If you press the swollen tissue, you feel a crackling sensation - this is the gas. In the days before antibiotics, it was fatal.

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Frank William Gaunt's family lived at 10 Crescent Lane, Clapham. His father, Rann Dolphin Gaunt, 58, was a druggist, born in Surrey; his mother, Celia Gaunt, 56, was also born in Surrey. The dwelling had six rooms. Frank was one of 10 children, five of whom were at home on the night of the census:

Amy Norah Gaunt, 28, a telephone operator, born in Surrey

Alice Edith Gaunt, 26, a clerk, born in Surrey

Beatrice Jane Gaunt, 25, a clerk, born in Surrey

George Frederick Gaunt, 22, a chef's assistant, born in Camberwell

Florence Gaunt, 19, a draper's assistant, born in Camberwell