Censuses
1911 Census (Oakley, ref 014)
Name Charles Measey
Address: Royal Oak, Worminghall Road, Oakley
Building Public House
Age: 29
Born 1882
Status Single
Occupation Assisting in the business
Other people on census
Father (Head): Joseph Measey (61, Widower, Inn Keeper and Small farmer, born 1850, Oakley, Bucks.
Brothers: George Measey (22, Single, Assisting in the Business, born 1889, Oakley, Bucks)
Frank Measey (16, Single, Assisting in the Business, born 1896, Oakley, Bucks)
Sisters: Lucy Measey (19, Single, born 1892, Oakley, Bucks)
1901 Census (Oakley, ref 027)
Name Charles Measey
Address: Royal Oak, Worminghall Road, Oakley
Building Public House
Age: 18
Born 1883
Status Single
Occupation Domestic House boy on Farm
Other people on census
Father (Head): Joseph Measey (50, Married, Farmer, small holding, born 1851, Oakley, Bucks.
Mother: Martha Measey (46, Married, born 1855, Oakley, Bucks.
Brothers: Albert Measey (19, Single, Ordinary agricultural labourer on Farm, born 1889, Oakley, Bucks)
Thomas Measey (16, Single, Cattleman on Farm, born 1885, Oakley, Bucks)
James Measey (14, Single, Ploughboy on Farm, born 1887, Oakley, Bucks)
George Measey (14, born 1887, Oakley, Bucks)
Frank Measey (6, Single, born 1895, Oakley, Bucks)
Sisters: Lucy Measey (9, Single, born 1892, Oakley, Bucks)
1891 Census (Oakley, ref 009)
Name Charles Measey
Address: In the Village
Age: 8
Born 1883
Occupation Scholar
Other people on census
Father (Head): Joseph Measey (39, Married, Farm labourer, born 1852, Oakley, Bucks.
Mother: Martha E. Measey (32, Married, born 1859, Oakley, Bucks.
Brothers: William Measey (11, born 1880, Farm Boy, Oakley, Bucks)
Albert Measey (9, Scholar, born 1882, Oakley, Bucks)
Thomas Measey (5, Scholar, born 1886, Oakley, Bucks)
James Measey (4, born 1887, Oakley, Bucks)
George Measey (2, born 1889, Oakley, Bucks)
Sisters: Mabel A. Measey (13, Single, born 1878, Oakley, Bucks)
Mary A. Measey (6, Scholar, born 1885, Oakley, Bucks)
1881 Census (Oakley, ref 009)
Name Joseph Measey
Address: Centre of the Village
Status Married
Age: 29
Born 1852, Oakley, Bucks
Occupation Farm Labourer and Grocer
Other people on census
Mother: Martha Measey (25, Married, Attends to Shop (Grocer) born 1856, Oakley, Bucks.
Brothers: William Measey (1, born 1880, Farm Boy, Oakley, Bucks)
Sisters: Mabel A. Measey (3, born 1878, Oakley, Bucks)
Medals
Roll of Individuals entitled to the Victory Medal and British War Medal granted under Army Orders 301 and 266 of 1919. Machine Gun Corps
27242 Pte MEASEY, Charles Henry Machine Gun Corp, Pte
• Victory Medal
• British Medal
UK Army Registry of Soldiers’ Effects (ref 611602 and 661777)
611602
146th Company Machine Gun Corps – Private Charles Henry Measey 27242.
Credit £3 17s 0d Allocated on 29/04/1918 to Father Joseph £3 17s 0d
War Gratuity £9 0s 0d Allocated on 01/11/1919 Father Joseph £9 0s 0d
661777
146th Company Machine Gun Corps – Private Charles Henry Measey 27242
Credit 11s 0d Allocated on 26/08/1918 to Father Joseph £0 11s 0d
Memorials/notes etc.
Oakley War Memorial.
Memorial: Aeroplane Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Grave Reference: III. B. 47
Waddesdon Deanery Magazine
Jan 1916 Oakley recruit
Jan 1918 Alas! We have to record the death of Charles Measey in action on November 11th, aged 33. He was in the Machine Gun Corps, and his officer writes most highly of him. His father and family have our sincere sympathy in their double loss. (Tom Measey’s death had been announced in March 1917)
Private Charles Henry MEASEY
Personal information
Known as Charles Henry Measey
Born: 26th October 1884, Oakley, Bucks
Pre-War Occupation Assisting with father’s business
Rank Private
Married: Unmarried
Died: 11th November 1917
Cause of Death Killed in Action
Age at death 33 years 1 month
Buried Aeroplane Cemetery
Family
Father: Joseph Measey (born c. 20 Oct 1848, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 20th Oct 1848 aged 5 weeks at Oakley Chapel; married 28th Feb 1878, Oakley Church; died Sept 1937, age 89, Oakley; buried 28th Feb 1937, Oakley Church)
Mother: Martha Elizabeth Measey nee Gladdy (born 1855, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 18th Nov 1855, Oakley Church; married 28th Feb 1878, Oakley Church; died Jul 1908, age 54, Oakley; buried 26th July 1908, Oakley Church)
Brothers (6) William Measey (born 1879, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 5th Oct 1879, Oakley Church)
Albert Measey (born 13th Jun 1881, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 26th Oct 1884, Oakley Church)
Thomas Measey (born 3rd Aug 1885, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 14th Mar 1886, aged 7 months, Oakley Church, died 20th Jan 1917, France; buried Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieries, France)
James Measey (born 13th Oct 1886, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 24th Jun 1890, Oakley Church, died 9th Sep 1909, Tiddington, Oxon, cause of death: accident with horse and cart; buried 13th Sept 1909, Oakley Church)
George Measey (born 1889, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 24th June 1890, Oakley Church, died 5th Oct 1918 age 28 years 10 months, Chateau d’Oeux, Switzerland; buried Vevey (St Martin’s) Cemetery, Switzerland)
Frank Measey (born 8th Jan 1895, Oakley, Bucks; died 22nd Jun 1918 age 23 years 6 months, Salonika, Greece; buried Karasouli Military Cemetery, Greece)
Sisters (3) Mabel Annie Measey (born 1878, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 5th Oct 1879, Oakley Church; married 14th Mar 1905 to Emma Mile)
Mary Ann Measey (born 8th Apr 1884, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 26th Oct 1884, Oakley Church; married Apr-Jun 1908 to Henry (Harry) Govier, Thame District; died Jan-Mar 1973, Aylesbury District)
Lucy Caroline Measey (born 21 July 1891, Oakley, Bucks, died Oct-Dec 1973, Aylesbury District)
Paternal Grandfather: William Measey (born 1811, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 1st Aug 1811, Oakley Church; married 4th Feb 1841, Oakley Church; died Jul 1896, age 84, Oakley, Bucks; buried 24th Jul 1896, Oakley Church)
Paternal Grandmother: Marianne (Mary Ann) Measey nee Nixey (born 1820, Oakley, Bucks; bapt. 12 Nov 1820, Oakley, Church married 4th Feb 1841, Oakley Church; died Dec 1859, age 38, Oakley, Bucks; buried 28th Dec 1859, service at Oakley Chapel)
Maternal Grandfather: William Gladdy (born 11th Dec 1823, Oakley, Bucks; bapt.: 14th Dec 1923, Oakley Church; married 21st June 1844, Oakley Church; died 31st Mar 1866 aged 43, Oakley, Bucks; buried 5th Apr 1866, Oakley Church)
Maternal Grandmother: Maria Gladdy nee Shirley (born 23rd Jan 1825, Little London, Bucks; married 21st June 1844, Oakley Church; died Oct 1901 aged 76, Oakley; buried 12th Oct 1901, Oakley Church)
Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
First Names: Charles Henry
Surname: Measey
Birth town: Oakley, Buckinghamshire
Resided Town Cydach-On-Tawe
Enlistment Place Swansea
Nationality: British
Date of death: 11th November 1917
Fate: Killed in Action
Rank: Private
Service Number: 27242
Regiment/Service Machine Gun Corps
146th Company
Battalion Infantry
Duty Location France and Flanders
Theatre of War Western European Theatre
Age 33 Years 1 Month
Cemetery Aeroplane Cemetery
Grave Reference III. B. 47
Comments Formerly 21327, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Military background
BRITISH ARMY
Regiment during World War 1
Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) – 146th Company
Machine Gun Corps during World War 1
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the tactical potential of machine guns was not appreciated by the British Military. The Army therefore went to war with each infantry battalion and cavalry regiment containing a machine gun section of just two guns each. A year of warfare on the Western Front proved that, to be fully effective, machine guns must be used in larger units and crewed by specially trained men. To achieve this, the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915 with Infantry, Cavalry and Motor branches, followed in 1916 by the Heavy Branch. A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and a base depôt at Camiers in France.
The MGC saw action in all the main theatres of war, including France, Belgium, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Salonika, East Africa and Italy. In its short history the MGC gained an enviable record for heroism as a front line fighting force. Indeed, in the latter part of the war, as tactics changed to defence in depth, it commonly served well in advance of the front line. It had a less enviable record for its casualty rate. Some 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC with 62,049 becoming casualties, including 12,498 killed, earning it the nickname ’the Suicide Club’
The 146th Machine Gun Company was formed in 146th (West Riding) Brigade, 49th (West Riding) Division on 27th Jan 1916. They were in action in the Battles of the Somme. In 1917 they were involved in the Operations on the Flanders Coast and The Battle of Poelcapelle during the Third Battle of Ypres.
The Battle of Poelcapelle . The 146th Brigade found a bridge on the Gravenstafel road and got forward several hundred yards up the Wallemolen spur beyond the Ravebeek, before being stopped at 9:30 a.m., by the machine-guns in the Bellevue pill-boxes and a field of uncut wire 25–40 yards wide in front of the pill-boxes, which obstructed all of the divisional front. At about 1:00 p.m. a reconnaissance report from a contact patrol aircraft crew had the 66th and 49th divisions at the final objective. Despite the scepticism of the brigade staff officers, both divisions were ordered to push forward reserves to consolidate the line. In ignorance of the cause of the check, the 49th Division headquarters sent forward the 147th Brigade and the rest of the supporting battalions of the attacking brigades, which were either pinned down or held back on Gravenstafel spur, as the cause of the check was realised. In the afternoon, the 148th and 146th brigades were near the red line, having had 2,500 casualties. The right of the 66th Division rested on the railway beyond Keerselaarhoek below the main ridge, then north past Augustus Wood to the Ravebeek. The 49th Division line began in the valley at Marsh Bottom, then along the bottom of the Bellevue slopes above the Ravebeek, to Peter Pan and Yetta Houses, then on to the XVIII Corps boundary of the 144th Brigade of the 48th Division at Adler Farm. Small groups were isolated further up the Bellevue slopes, on the western edge of Wolf Copse, Wolf Farm and a cemetery on the northern boundary
484 British and Empire Troops died on 11th November 1917, according to Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 19 soldiers of the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) died on that day
Cemetery / Memorial
Description. Aeroplane Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Identified Casualties: 469
Location Information:
Aeroplane Cemetery is located 3.5 kilometres north east of Ieper (Ypres) town centre on the Zonnebeekseweg (N332), a road connecting Ieper to Zonnebeke
Historical Information:
From October 1914 to the summer of 1918, Ypres (now Ieper) was the centre of a salient held by Commonwealth (and for some months also by French) forces.
The site of the cemetery was in No Man’s Land before 31 July 1917 when the 15th (Scottish) Division, with the 55th (West Lancashire) Division on their left, took nearby Verlorenhoek and Frezenberg. The cemetery was begun the following month (under the name of the New Cemetery, Frezenberg) by the 15th and the 16th (Irish) Divisions, but by October it had acquired its present name from the wreck of an aeroplane which lay near the present position of the Cross of Sacrifice. It was used by fighting units until March 1918, and again, after a period of occupation by the Germans, in September 1918. Plots II to VIII, and part of Plot I, were formed after the Armistice when graves were brought in from small burial grounds and the surrounding battlefields.
There are now 1,105 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 636 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate eight casualties known or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.