Second Lieutenant Charlton Willoughby Hougham Foord

Charlton was born on 14 November, 1885 in Forest Gate, Essex. He was the only son of Alfred and Caroline Foord but did have an older sister, Isabel. Charlton’s father worked as a bank secretary and later served as clerk to a public company. During the 1890s the family was living at 189 Richmond Gardens, West Ham but had moved to 28 Westwell Road, Streatham by 1901.

Charlton was educated at Dulwich College and the University of London, before completing an apprenticeship with an engineering firm in Hammersmith. Prior to the war he was working as a patent agent’s technical assistant at Messrs. Marks and Clerk, London. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, in addition to the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents.

The Foord family was based at Kitson Road, Barnes by 1911, however Charlton had moved to 14 Laurel Road, Wimbledon by 1914. He enlisted as an Able Seaman in the Royal Naval Anti-Aircraft Corps in June 1915. However by 1916 he had secured a commission in the Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) and helped to suppress the Easter Rising during his training in Ireland.

In June 1916 Charlton was transferred to the Royal West Surrey Regiment. He competed in the famous shooting championships at Bisley and is said to have been an excellent shot. This may explain why he joined the Machine Gun Corps in September 1916. He fought with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders during November but was wounded in the trenches of Morval, whilst trying to help his wounded sergeant during fighting on the Somme. Charlton died of his injuries one month later and is commemorated at Wimbledon Parish Church.

Although Charlton was the only member of his immediate family to enlist, more than 65 members of his extended family fought in the First World War.