Gunner Harvey Smith, Royal Garrison Artillery, 1918

There is a standard CWGC pattern headstone in the Cemetery at Methwold.

 

284176 Gunner

HARVEY SMITH

Royal Garrison Artillery

5th December 1918 Age 39

 

Gunner SMITH, HARVEY

Service Number:………. 284176

Died:…………………… 05/12/1918

Aged:………………….. 39

Unit:……………………Siege School, Aldershot

………………………….Royal Garrison Artillery

Son of Elizabeth Slapp (formerly Smith), and of William Slapp (Step-father).

Buried at METHWOLD (ST. GEORGE'S) CHURCH BURIAL GROUND

Source: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2803527/smith,-harvey/

 

No match on SDGW.

 

The Medal Index Card for Gunner 284176 Harvey Smith, Royal Garrison Artillery, is held at the National Archive under reference WO 372/18/145360

He had previously been Gunner 13919 Royal Garrison Artillery.

Source: discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D5230889

He qualified for the 1915 Star as he landed in Egypt on the 24th July 1915. However the card is also noted “Dis. 28.1.16” and that he would also receive the Silver War Badge.

Harvey also qualified for the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

 

While his Service Records do not appear to have survived the incendiary attack during the Blitz on the Warehouse where all the Other Ranks Army Service Records were stored, his discharge papers are available. They reveal that Harvey saw one period of service, was discharged and then recalled when conscription was introduced.

 

He was discharged on the 16th May 1918 at Dover, being “no longer physically fit for War Service.” Harvey was then 37 years and 10 months old, was 5 feet 8 and a half inches tall, with a sallow complexion, black hair and brown eyes. There were no descriptive marks. A labourer by trade his intended place of residence was 2 Chapel Lane, Methwold, Brandon, Norfolk.

 

His last unit was the Siege School Aldershot, Royal Garrison Artillery and he was Gunner 284176.

 

His Military character was rated Good and he was stated to be a steady and hard working man.

 

He had served on the Home Front for all of his time in the Army, (28.7.16 to 16.5.18).

 

His original Medical Report is included with his Discharge Papers and there is a note that he was an “Ex-soldier” and that form was being used for an Ex-soldier recalled for Service with the Colours under the provisions of M.S. Acts 1916. The Medical took place at Norwich on the 28th July 1916. Then aged 36 and born Methwold, he was then only 5 feet 6 inches. He wighed 106lbs and was judged to be of Poor Physical Development, with Poor feet, Varicose Veins and a Pendulous abdomen. His original service number looks like 9176 Wes.

 

His next of kin at that time was his mother, Elizabeth Slapp, of 2 Chapel Lane, Methwold nr Brandon.

 

On the 26th December 1917 he was admitted to the Connaught Hospital, Aldershot, with a diagnosis of Addison’s disease. He had profound anaemia which wasn’t responding to treatment, and while his blood pressure wasn’t low, he had a very pronounced pigmentation of the lips, mucus membrane, cheeks and palate.

 

His Discharge Medical records that he originally enlisted at Bury St Edmunds on the 28th January 1908. He was stated to have been aged 41 at his last birthday. The place and origin of his Addison’s disease could be be said. Harvey had a history of jaundice and dysentery at the Dardenelles in 1915, Since then he had occasional enteritis with haemophysis and he had until recently been seen as a case of Phthisis. The board believed his condition had been aggravated by service in the military and was not attributable to or aggravated by the behaviour of the soldier himself. The Medical Board sitting at the Connaught Hospital on the 25th April 1918 found him 100% disabled and permanently unfit. It seems they believed his condition was too far gone to warrant further treatment.

 

His pension award sheet shows his date of birth as the 18th July 1880 and that he was a single man.

 

A memo from the Ministry of Pensions received by the Army Records Office on the 11th January 1919 records that Harvey died on the 5th December 1918. It gives his Chelsea Hospital number as N.R. 2P1584.

 

No match on Picture Norfolk, the County Image Archive.

 

No obvious Soldiers Will or Civil Probate for this man.

 

 

1880 – birth and baptism…….

 

The birth of a Harvey Smith was registered with the Civil Authorities in the Thetford District of Norfolk in the January to March quarter, (Q1), of 1880. His pension award sheet in his discharge papers however shows his date of birth as the 18th July 1880. While the month is written in full there still is the potential for confusion between January and July \ months 1 and 7 which could have been compounded by the Pensions Clerk.

 

The baptism of a Harvey Smith, born 11th January 1880 took place at St George, Methwold on the 23rd March 1882. Only his mother, Elizabeth Smith, is shown and the parish register is noted that she was a “singlewoman.” They were living at the Old Vicarage Houses, Methwold.

Source: www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818d39ae93790eca3e77e5...

 

1881 Census of England and Wales

 

The 1 year old Harvey Smith, born Methwold, was recorded living in a dwelling on the High Street, Methwold. This was the dwelling of his widowed Grand-mother, Amy Smith, (aged 58, born Gooderstone, Norwich). Amy is recorded living on “Parish Pay”. Also in the household are two of her unmarried sons, John, (26) and Walter, (16) – both Agricultural Labourers born Methwold.

 

His mother, the unmarried Elizabeth Smith, aged 22 and born Methwold, was recorded as a live in General Servant of a household on Cock Street, Feltwell, Norfolk. The household was that of a farmer Henry Heading and his wife Caroline.

 

1891 Census of England and Wales

 

The 11 year old Harvey Smith, born Methwold, was now recorded living at West Tofts, Norfolk. This was the household of a married couple, William H. Slapp, (aged 33, General Labourer, born Wilton, Norfolk) and Elizabeth Slapp, (aged 32, born Methwold). Although the additional information on the CWGC would indicate that William was the stepfather, and Elizabeth, by implication, was the biological mother, the census taker has actually recorded that Harvey is Williams’ “son-in-law”. There is also a second “son-in-law”, William R. Smith, (aged 8 and born Methwold). The couple then appear to have two children of their own –

John………...aged 6….born West Tofts

Lillian M......aged 1….born West Tofts

Also living with them is a Lodger, John Slapp, aged 18, an Agricultural Labourer born Brandon, Suffolk.

 

1901 Census of England and Wales

 

The Slapp family were now recorded living at Chapel Lane, Methwold. Although the head of the household is now recorded as the 43 year old Agricultural Labourer Harry Slapp, born Hockwold, Norfolk, I believe there enough similarities in his details and that of the other members of the family to make sure the right people have been identified. His wife Elizabeth was then aged 42 and born Methwold. Children listed in the household are a son, Harvey Smith, (21, an Agricultural Labourer, born Metwold), and three daughters, Lilly, (11), Hannah, (8) and Maud Slapp, (1) – all born West Tofts.

 

1911 Census of England and Wales

 

The ‘29’ year old unmarried Farm Labourer, Harvey Smith, born Methwold, was recorded living in the household of his employer, Isaac Laud, at Plantation Farm, Wereham, Stoke Ferry, Norfolk.

 

His mother and step-father were still living at “Chaple” Lane, Methwold – this was the first census return intended to be completed by the householder. William Harry Slapp, (53), a Farm Labourer born Hockwold Wilton, and Elizabeth Slapp, (52), have been married 27 years and have had 8 children, of which 6 were then still alive. Children still single and living at home were Hannah, (18) and Alice Maud, (11).

 

 

On the day…………………………………

 

The death of the 38 year old Harvey Smith was recorded in the Thetford District in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1918.

 

Addison's disease, also known as primary adrenal insufficiency and hypocortisolism, is a long-term endocrine disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce enough steroid hormones. Symptoms generally come on slowly and may include abdominal pain, weakness, and weight loss. Darkening of the skin in certain areas may also occur. Under certain circumstances, an adrenal crisis may occur with low blood pressure, vomiting, lower back pain, and loss of consciousness. An adrenal crisis can be triggered by stress, such as from an injury, surgery, or infection.

 

Addison's disease arises from problems with the adrenal gland such that not enough of the steroid hormone cortisol and possibly aldosterone are produced, most often due to damage by the body's own immune system in the developed world and tuberculosis in the developing world

 

Addison’s disease is named after Thomas Addison, the British physician who first described the condition in On the Constitutional and Local Effects of Disease of the Suprarenal Capsules (1855). All of Addison's six original patients had tuberculosis of the adrenal glands. While Addison's six patients in 1855 all had adrenal tuberculosis, the term "Addison's disease" does not imply an underlying disease process.

 

Addison's disease is associated with the development of other autoimmune diseases, such as type I diabetes, thyroid disease (Hashimoto's thyroiditis), celiac disease, or vitiligo.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addison%27s_disease

 

 

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