WEAVER Ralph

Ralph Weaver was born on 26th July 1879 in Wichenford, Worcestershire. He was the 2nd child of John and Fanny who had married in 1874.

Worcestershire Chronicle, Saturday 19th April 1902:
Worcester County Police. Saturday
Before Mr. F.J.A. Wood.
Drunken Labourers,- Walter Hankins and Ralph Weaver, labourers, of Wichenford, pleaded guilty to a charge of being drunk, at Hallow, on Friday. P.C. Parry said defendants were in charge of a horse and cart. Fined 7s. and 6d., and costs, each, or 10 days’ hard labour. They decided to pay the money.

On the 1911 census Ralph and his father are both employed as farm labourers. Later that same year, on 26th May 1911, Ralph sailed from London on the S.S. Otway, bound for Fremantle, Western Australia.

Ralph enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 17th September 1914 at Blackley Hill, Western Australia when he gave his age as 35 years and 1 month. On his attestation paper his next of kin is shown as his father John Weaver, Kings Green, Wichenford. This has later been amended to his widowed mother, Mrs Fanny Weaver, 141 Hylton Road, Worcester, England. Ralph’s occupation is shown as a labourer. He was 5 feet 6¼ inches tall with a ruddy complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.

Ralph joined his battalion on 10th February 1915 and embarked on HMS Suffolk at Alexandria on 2nd March 1915, bound for the Gallipoli peninsula. On 6th May 1915 he was AWOL (absent without leave) for 24 hours for which he was severely reprimanded and was fined 2 days pay. Nine days later on 15th May 1915 he was promoted to Corporal. The following month, Ralph was sentenced to 3 days field imprisonment for disobedience of orders by smoking in the firing line on 26th June 1915. On 15th August 1915 he reverted back to a Private. In the same month he was treated in hospital in Mudros, Greece for diarrhoea before returning to duty in the Dardanelles on 15th October 1915. His battalion was evacuated from Gallipoli and on 7th January 1916 he disembarked from HMS Empress of Britain in Alexandria. He was promoted to Corporal on 11th March 1916 and on 5th June 1916 he left Alexandria bound for Marseilles, France, arriving there on 12th June 1916. Ralph was promoted to Sergeant on 18th August 1916. Just over 2 weeks later he was killed in action.

Australian Service Records accessed via: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/
Reference: Barcode 8377048 Series Accession No B2455 Location: Canberra

A photograph of Sergeant R. Weaver of Wichenford can be found in Berrow’s Worcester Journal Supplement, Saturday 7th October 1916, available at Worcestershire Archives.

Ralph Weaver has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.