No.M2/203368, Private, Jack CRISPIN
Aged 19
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Jack Crispin was born in Hammersmith (believed to be Fulham Q2-1898 1A:315) son of William H and Emily Jane CRISPIN (née HASLETT).
1901 census...Aged 2 he was at "Stable with rooms over",Six Mile Bottom, with his father William Henry CRISPIN [29] domestic coachman, born Brixham, Devon ; his mother Emily [27] born Clawton, Devon and brother William J [1] born Six Mile Bottom. 1911 census...Aged 12, he was at Arleigh, 99 Victoria Road, Exmouth, Devon, with his uncle and aunt, Reuben and Martha HARDING. At the Lodge Stables, Six Mile Bottom, (now placed in Bottisham) were his parents, brother William James and new siblings, sisters Winifred Mary [9], Dorothy Olive [7] and Nora [3], and brother Alan Sansom [5] and Donald Sansom [4 months]. The new children were all born in Six Mile Bottom. His sister Winifred applied for his medals, giving her address as Flat 13 Walm Lane, Willesden Green NW |
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He enlisted in Newmarket, "Soldiers Died" has him as resident in Six Mile Bottom . The Army Service Corps did not receive the Royal prefix until late in 1918.
Initially buried in Matandawalla, his grave was concentrated to Kilwa Kivinje (4:D:10) and then again to Dar es Salaam. So far unable to locate Matandawalla , which was obviously closer to where Jack died. The East African campaign started with the first action of the war, on 8th August 1914 when the Royal Navy shelled the radio station at Dar es Salaam and disabled two German ships. The very small German force under General von Lettow-Vorbeck managed to avoid defeat for the entire war, only surrendering 12 days after the cease fire in Europe and down to 155 Europeans and 1,168 native troops.
  photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details |
