Ernest Arthur Duckett – Worcestershire Regiment, 9th Battalion
Private Ernest Arthur Duckett – Worcestershire Regiment, 9th Battalion
Birth and Family Background
John Duckett and Mary Jane Brench
marriage certificate
Napton-on-the Hill, Warwickshire
Ernest Arthur Duckett was born in 1890 at Bascote,
Warwickshire. He was the youngest son of John Duckett, an
Agricultural Labourer, and Mary Jane Bench, who had
married in 1875 at Napton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire.
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| 1891 Census |
The 1891 Census records the family living at Village Streets, Long Itchington, Warwickshire.
John, aged 39, was employed as an Agricultural Labourer, while Mary Jane, aged 35, managed the home. Their children present were William (12), John E. (10), Emily (7), Daisy (3), and Ernest Arthur (1).
No confirmed 1901 Census entry has yet been located for
Ernest.
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| 1911 Census |
By the 1911 Census, Ernest—recorded simply as Arthur—was living at 13 Clase Road, Morriston, Swansea, in the home of his elder brother William Duckett.
William, aged 34, was employed as a Steam Crane Driver,
and his wife Sarah, aged 38, kept the household. The home included
Sarah’s children from her previous marriage: Sarah E. Radcliffe (16),
employed as a Circler at the Tin Works; Laura M. Radcliffe (13) and Beatrice
E. Radcliffe (12), both attending school; and Alice Radcliffe (8).
William and Sarah’s younger children were William H.
Duckett (4) and Winifred Duckett (5 months).
Ernest (“Arthur”), aged 21, was listed as a Boarder, working as an Excavator
with the Railways.
Marriage
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| Ernest Arthur Duckett and Charlotte Ann Blair marriage certificate Cwmaman, Carmarthenshire |
Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, Ernest married Charlotte Ann Blair in September 1914 at Cwmaman, Carmarthenshire — the earliest clear record placing him permanently in South Wales.
Military Service
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| Ernest Arthur Duckett 7th Field Ambulance Cemetery, Turkey credit - findagrave |
His surviving Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects confirm that he died at Gallipoli on 10th August 1915 during the disastrous Dardanelles campaign, and he was laid to rest at the 7th Field Ambulance Cemetery, Turkey.
9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment at Gallipoli – August 1915
By August 1915, the 9th Battalion
Worcestershire Regiment, as part of the 13th (Western)
Division, was deeply engaged in the brutal fighting of the Gallipoli
Campaign. The battalion had landed earlier in the summer, joining the
Allied forces involved in the major ‘August Offensive’,
an attempt to break the deadlock on the peninsula. Positioned in the Suvla
Bay and Anzac sector, the 9th Worcesters endured constant
sniper fire, heavy Turkish artillery bombardments, extreme heat, difficult
scrub terrain, and chronic shortages of fresh water.
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| Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects |
They supported repeated assaults on entrenched Ottoman positions and carried out hazardous defensive work to hold the shallow trench lines on the exposed ridges. Losses were severe, caused not only by enemy fire but also by disease, exhaustion, and the unforgiving conditions. It was amid these operations that Private Ernest Arthur Duckett lost his life on 10th August 1915, one of many who fell during this costly and ultimately unsuccessful campaign.
Death and Later Family History
Private Ernest Arthur Duckett died on 10th
August 1915, aged about 25, far from the rural Warwickshire home of his
birth.
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| Charlotte Ann Duckett and William Edward Hughes marriage certificate All Saints Church, Oystermouth |
Following his death, his widow Charlotte Ann Duckett remarried in November 1917, taking William Edward Hughes, a soldier stationed at Mumbles Fort, as her second husband. Their marriage took place at All Saints’, Oystermouth, and Charlotte’s address was recorded simply as Mumbles, permanently linking Ernest’s memory to the district.
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