Frederick William Duckett – Welsh Regiment, 9th Battalion

Private Frederick William Duckett – Welsh Regiment, 9^th Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Frederick William Duckett was born in 1898 in Mumbles. The identity of his parents is not entirely clear; the only information provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission states that his next of kin was his grandmother, Annie Duckett, suggesting that he was either orphaned early or raised by extended family.

Early Life and Census Records

1901 Census

Frederick appears in the 1901 Census, living at the home of his grandparents in Beggar’s Lane, St Athan, Glamorgan. His grandfather William Duckett, then aged 59, was employed as a General Labourer, while his grandmother Annie, aged 49, managed the home. Also present were their children Bessie (14) and Thomas (11), and three-year-old Frederick, identified as their grandson. This record clearly places Frederick’s childhood in rural Glamorgan and confirms his close familial connection to the Duckett household.

Military Service

Frederick later enlisted in the Welsh Regiment, 9th Battalion, serving as a Private during the early years of the First World War.

Frederick William Duckett
Chocques Military Cemetery, France
credit - findagrave

He was killed in action on 26^th September 1915, aged only about 17, and is buried at Chocques Military Cemetery, France. His youth makes his death particularly poignant, marking him as one of many teenage casualties of the conflict.

9^th Battalion, Welsh Regiment — 26^th September 1915

In late September 1915, the 9th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment was operating on the Western Front, likely holding or rotating through trench-line sectors amidst the static, attritional warfare that characterised the period. Although 26^th September 1915 was not the date of a major British assault, front-line battalions such as the 9th Welsh faced the daily hazards of trench service: artillery bombardments, sniper fire, flooded trenches, night-time patrols, wiring parties, and dangerous trench reliefs under observation.

These conditions were especially harsh as autumn rains set in, worsening trench rot, sickness, and structural collapse. Men might be killed at any moment by a random shell burst, a sniper’s bullet, or a sudden raid. It was in this environment of relentless attrition rather than set-piece battle that Private Frederick William Duckett fell on 26^th September 1915, a stark reminder that even days without major operations could bring fatal consequences.