Charles James Godfrey

Able Seaman Charles James Godfrey – Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

The Brookwood 1914–18 Memorial at Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, originally commemorated Able Seaman Charles James Godfrey, who died on 5^th April 1919. His name was later given its rightful place on an official Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstone at Danygraig Cemetery in Swansea, where he is buried.

Early Life

Charles was born in 1898, the son of Charles Edward Godfrey and Elizabeth Jane Hicks.

1901 Census

The earliest official record comes from the 1901 Census, which shows that 2-year-old Charles was living with his grandparents at 12 Clifton Hill. His grandfather, James Hicks (51), worked as a dock labourer, and his grandmother, Mary Jane (53), managed the household. Also in the home were their daughters: Elizabeth Ann (23), employed as a woollen weaver, and Susan (14), a spinning woollen weaver.

Military Service

On the last day of 1914, Charles enlisted with the Royal Naval Division, an infantry formation of the Royal Navy that fought on land. His service lasted through most of the war, but it took a heavy toll. In November 1918, just after the Armistice, he was discharged after receiving a serious head wound.

1918 Electoral Register

The 1918 Electoral Register records Charles living at 28 Orchard Street, Swansea. It was there that he spent his final months of life.

Death

In April 1919, Charles died suddenly. An inquest determined that the cause of death was meningitis, brought on by the wound he had sustained during his service.

Herald of Wales

South Wales Daily Post

His passing was reported in both the Herald of Wales and the South Wales Daily Post, which noted his sacrifice and the lingering impact of war injuries on returning servicemen.

Burial and Commemoration

Charles James Godfrey
Danygraig Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Charles was buried at Danygraig Cemetery. For many years, however, his grave went unmarked by an official military headstone, and his name remained instead on the Brookwood 1914–18 Memorial.

The Brookwood 1914–18 Memorial

The memorial at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, was unveiled in 1958. It was designed to commemorate more than 260 men and women of the Commonwealth who died in the United Kingdom during the First World War but whose graves were either lost, unmarked, or not formally recognised at the time.

Brookwood 1914-18 Memorial 
Brookwood Cemetery
Surrey

The memorial served as a symbolic headstone for those who had no visible grave. For Charles, this meant that his name was remembered among hundreds of others, even though he lay in Swansea.

It was only in the 2010s that his burial at Danygraig was officially recognised by the CWGC, and his resting place was finally marked with a headstone. This correction ensured that his name was not just among the absent on Brookwood’s memorial but firmly tied to the ground where he was laid to rest.

Legacy

Charles’s story reflects the struggles of many who survived the war only to succumb to wounds or illness in its aftermath. His eventual commemoration at Danygraig Cemetery restored dignity to his memory and reconnected his story to Swansea’s community of First World War dead.

The Brookwood Memorial continues to stand as a reminder of those who might otherwise have been “forgotten,” while Charles’s headstone at Danygraig ensures that Swansea remembers one of its own.