Edward Victor Whiteway
This name is on the St Mark's War Memorial, Kennington Oval, London SE11
(Edward Victor Whiteway)
(Whiteway, Edward Victor)
Military Cross
Captain, East Surrey Regiment, 12th Battalion, attd. 122nd Bde. H.Q.
Died of wounds on 28 April 1918, aged 29
Son of Henry and Edith Whiteway, of Whimple, Devon.
Remembered at Etaples Military Cemetery, France, at Whimple War Memorial, Devon, and at St Mark's Church, London
National Archives Service Records
1 Dec 1916 Attached to 122nd Brigade
15 Jul 1917 Brigade granted leave to UK
20 Mar 1917 Appointed temporary Captain
12 Nov 1917 Proceeded to Italy, awarded MC
12 Feb 1918 Granted leave to UK
1 Mar 1918 Returned from leave
8 Mar 1918 ? leave
24 Mar 1918 Gunshot wound to left leg
26 Mar 11918 Hospital
Born 14 May 1887
Previous service: three weeks (August 1914) as inspector of motor cycle dispatch riders at Scotland Yard (Special Police)
Able to ride ("very little practice")
Previously in cadet corp (Devon County School - University and Public Schools forces (Private), then 18th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. Joined 4 September 1914
Then Army Service Corps to end of Feb 1915 (Staff Sergeant Major); joined ASC as a warrant officer. Reason for wishing to transfer:
"Being young, single and a good athlete, I feel my place is at the front, as older people could do my present duties"
Educated at Devon County School and Naval Officer Training School, Greenwich.
1 Jul 1915 Nominated for appointment as Second Lieutenant, 12th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment; discharged to commission on 19 August 1915
28 years 4 months
5 feet 8 inches
38 inches + 4 inches
10 stone 7 pounds
2 scars from old appendectomy
"No sign of hernia"
Fresh complexion, hazel eyes, black hair.
Trade = merchant
Military character = "very good" ("Has proved himself a very good warrant officer")
Lived at 51 Kennington Oval
Gunshot wound left hand on 2 Jun 1916
Letter from Jessie Ames to the War Office
2 Gloucester Villas
Union Street
Farnborough
Hampshire
27 July 1918
Dear Sir
Could you possibly furnish me with any details concerning the death of Lt E. Victor Whiteway, MC...
I had written several letters to him, one in answer to his, in which he told me he was expecting leave and it was not until yesterday that I received one of my letters back with "Died of wounds" on the envelope.
The news came as a great shock to me and as he was a great friend of mine I feel anxious to know further about his death and should esteem it a great favour if you could let me know any details concerning him, as to the date he died etc.
Thanking you in anticipation
I remain
Yours faithfully
Jessie Ames (Miss)
1911: Jessie Ames was working as a live-in waitress in the Home & Colonial hotel, 13 Euston Square, London. Her widowed mother and 4 siblings (including an invalid brother) lived in Farnborough.
Whiteway trained at Bordon Station, Hampshire.
Telegram
Nephritis following shot wound compound fracture tibia and fibula.
Permit
To Miss Whiteway (sister) to visit Capt. E. V. Whiteway at No. 1 Red Cross Hospital, Le Touquet.
You are permitted to visit Capt. E. V. Whiteway, E. S. Regt. Dangerously ill at 1 Red X Hosp Le Touquet. You must produce this telegram at WO (Officers Casualty Dept) for exchange for Permit. If you wish to substitute another name for visit your written authority sanctioning substitution must be attached to telegram. If you are unable to bear expense take this telegram to the nearest Police Station.
Information from the censuses
Edward Victor Whiteway was born in 1887 in Harburtonford, Totnes, Devon. The 1891 census shows him as a three-year-old, living at Higher Luscombe, Harburton with his parents, farmer Henry Whiteway, 37, born in Harburton, Devon, and Edith Whiteway, 38, born in Whimple, Devon. At that time they had four children:
Ethel M. Whiteway, 8
Ronald H. E. Whiteway, 5
Edward Victor Whiteway, 3
Herbert L. Whiteway, under 1
The household included a governess, a domestic servant and a farm servant.
The 1901 census shows Edward Victor Whiteway as a boarder at a 50 Crooms Hill, a small school for boys in Greenwich, run by William T. Littlejohns and his wife Helen. Since the 1891 census his parents had produced another son - Reginald Phillips Whiteway, 5. The family had moved to Cyprus House, Whimple and Henry Whiteway described himself as a cider merchant.
The 1911 census shows Edward Victor Whiteway living at 51 Kennington Oval. He is 23, single and working as a cider merchant. He signed the census as "Victor".