Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Alfred and Mary Cavendish (nee Daly). Gordon Charles was born in 1885 in Notting Hill, Middx., and was employed as a coal miner, in March 1901 he was residing at Buxton’s Row, Hugglescote, Leics., as the adopted son of William Barton a coal miner, born 1858 in Donington, Lincs., and his wife Georgina, born 1865 in Coalville, Leics., also residing in the family home was their niece Ann Allen, born 1897 in Donington, Leics. In April 1911 Gordon (Charles) was employed as a coal miner and was residing in the family home at 1, Hermitage Road, Coalville, Leics., together with his wife of two years, Jane Cavendish (nee James), born 1889 in Gobowen, Shropshire, and their children, Victor Charles Ernest, born 1909 in Whitwick, Leics., and William Richard, born 1910 in Coalville, Leics., also residing with the family was his brother in law, Charles William James a scholar, born 1899 in Whitwick, Leics., Charles and Jane later had three further children, Gordon, Joseph and Edward. Charles’s father was a marble polisher, and following a period of retraining as a boilermaker, he obtained employment with the Midland Railway and moved his family from London to Coalville in Leicestershire. After a number of years in Coalville, Alfred and Mary returned to London, however Charles being sixteen remained, and found accommodation with William and Georgina Barton, at the time he was employed as a miner at the South Leicestershire Colliery and remained there until enlisting in the 5th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment at the Drill Hall in Loughborough in late August 1914. He was wounded at Ypres, and following his recovery, he was transferred to the 1st/4th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, he suffered a wound to the head from shrapnel during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, again returning to the front line after a period of hospitalisation. On the 21st October 1917 Charles was wounded again, this time suffering quite badly from a shrapnel wound to his chest, at the time he was serving in the St. Elie Left Sector, just south of the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Again a period of hospitalisation followed and in March 1918 he rejoined his unit in the frontline, on the 18th June Charles along with others in his Company were gassed on the outskirts of the village of Gorre, the effects, from which he recovered sufficiently to return to active duty, sadly on the 2nd July 1918 Charles was killed instantly by a high explosive shell. The War Diary for today records. Nothing to report except usual harassing fire from 9.00pm until 12 midnight.

Source: Leicestershire War Memorials Project.
Coalville Times article - Friday September 13th, 1918

LOCAL CASUALTIES


Further details are also to hand of the death of another Whitwick soldier, Private Charles Cavendish, who was killed in action in France on July 2nd. He enlisted in the Spring of 1915, and went to France in the following October. In July, 1916, he was wounded in the head by shrapnel and was in hospital in France for seven weeks. Again, on October 21st, 1917, he was dangerously wounded in the chest by a bomb from an enemy aeroplane, being the only one left alive on that occasion of a group of eight men. In November last he was invalided to England and returned to France in March this year. On June 18th, he was gassed; but recovered sufficiently to join the fighting again and after this somewhat remarkable record he was killed on July 2nd. He formerly lived at Pare’s Hill, Whitwick, and leaves a widow and five children.

Research undertaken and submitted by Andy Murby 2/6/2018