Name
Charles Hugh Pearson Lipscomb (poss Lipscome or Lipscombe)
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
18/04/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
707211
2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
WIMEREUX COMMUNAL CEMETERY
II. H. 11.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Sawbridgeworth Town Memorial,
Great St Mary’s Church Memorial, Sawbridgeworth,
High Wych Village Memorial
Pre War
Charles Lipscomb was born 12th January 1881 in Sawbridgeworth the second child of Henry, the vicar of Gt. St, Mary’s there, and his wife Mary. By 1901 his father, Henry, was a widower and Charles was registered as a bankers clerk.
Charles left the town and appears to have emigrated to British Columbia, Canada, sailing from Liverpool on the SS Manitoba in March 1908. Although the passenger list is difficult to read.
His great hobby was cricket. Charles lived at Cowichan BC and was a member of the Cowichan Cricket Club in Canada.
Like many British Canadians he returned to help his King and Country enlisting on the 7th July 1916 he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles.
Wartime Service
Within a year of his enlistment he was dead, the cause of death was uncertain “died in War, unknown cause”. Charles’ date of death is recorded as 18th April 1917.
According to the Canadian Mounted Rifles war diary, they were in the fighting hard between the 9th and-12th of April 1917 when the attack on Vimy Ridge took place. During that battle 9 of the 23 Canadian officers and 311 of the 664 men perished. The unit was then behind lines for a few weeks, so it seems possible that Charles was wounded and died later at a hospital, but the comment “died in War, unknown cause” makes this questionable.
He was buried at Wimereux Communal Cemetery which is on the coast, just North of Boulogne and South of Calais.
Additional Information
A Mrs Alice Margaret Lipscomb of 2297 Brighton Avenue., Victoria, British Columbia is mentioned as next of kin. At least one source has claimed that she was Charles’ wife, however, closer inspection shows that he was unmarried and she was his aunt.
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Theo van de Bilt, Douglas Coe
