Royal Army Medical Corps - 20th August 1914

On the 20th August 1914, Charles Henry Bush (my 1st Cousin 3 times removed) embarked for France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) having been mobilised from the Army reserve on the 5th August 1914 with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) No. 9 General Hospital as a private. He had re-enlisted in the reserve in May 1913 having previously joined the RAMC at the age of 21 on the 23rd May 1901, at that time he was working as a barman. He served in South Africa from December 1901 to September 1904 being awarded the Queens medal with 4 clasps including Cape Colony.

He married Edith Pearson on 12th June 1905 and had their first child, Charles Alfred exactly 1 year later. By 1911 Charles, Edith & Charles along with their 2nd son Herbert were living at 69 Pelham Road, Wimbledon, with Charles' occupation listed as a bill poster for a theatre. Herbert died a few months later just as their daughter Edith was born.

Royal Army Medical Corps Cap Badge

Charles was born in Wimbledon in 1878, the son of Charles Henry Bush and Caroline Wigman, he was one of 5 children, an elder sister and brother Louisa and Alfred and younger siblings Nellie and William. His father Charles had died young at only 34 and his mother had re-married to William Clack, a scavenger with Wimbledon Borough Council, having a further 7 children. All living at 11 Ashbourne Terrace, Wimbledon, which had been the Bush family home before his father's death.

Charles was 5 foot 7 inches tall, with a fresh complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair and was 36 when the Great War started.

His elder brother, by 3 years, Alfred Charles Morris Bush had also served in the RAMC in the Boer War and had remained in the services, by 1911 he was a staff sergeant with the London Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance. Alfred also served with the RAMC in WW1, he was married to Ellen and had two children Amy and George.

His cousin William Alfred Bush had already been mobilised and was already in France, serving with the Army Service Corps in Rouen. Charles Henry Bush was posted to No. 9 General Hospital, which was initially based in Nantes.

Tony

References
1911 census - Ancestry.com
WW1 British Army Service records - Ancestry.com
Queens South Africa medal info - Wikipedia