VAD Hospital, High Wycombe (picture from SWOP website)
Horace Walter Adams grave in High Wycombe Cemetery
Horace Walter Adams 1893 - 1918
My name is Horace Walter Adams and I was born in the Portsmouth area in 1893. My parents were John & Emily both born in London but by 1891 they were living at Portsea, Portsmouth where my father was in the Royal Navy from which he later retired.
By 1901 we were living at 11, Beaulieu Road, Portsmouth and my father had now retired from his job as an engine room artificer. My older brother Ernest and myself were not yet grown up and so we were still at home at this time.
By 1911 the family had moved to 11, Lyndhurst Road, North End, Portsmouth. I had left home by then but Ernest was still living with my parents. My service number suggests it was issued around 1910.
My Medal Card shows that I was originally with the 2nd Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery and left for France on 11th September 1914. However, I was later sent to a Reserve Brigade - the Royal Field Artillery B Battery 4th Reserve Brigade to be precise - which is usually an indication that they didn't consider me well enough for normal duties. The purpose of being in this Brigade was to get folk like me, wounded or sick, back to full fitness and offer additional training if necessary.
My Brigade was stationed at High Wycombe and it was here that I probably caught influenza which was the cause of many deaths at this time. I was to die on the 7th December 1918 at the Wycombe V.A.D hospital. So that is why my grave is in Wycombe Cemetery.
I am remembered on the Buckland United Reformed Church WW1 Memorial in Portsmouth and on the Portsmouth Cenotaph.
Researched by Ruth Bowler, Flackwell Local Area History Group
