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There is no date when
Charles entered the HCB but records indicate that he served in A Company
of the 2/1st HCB with the number 1161, his home town was St. Neots,
Huntingdonshire, but being born in Eaton Socon the son of Mr. W. Wiles.
His first record of being in the HCB was 1/12/1916.
He
was posted to the base depot B. E. F. France on 26th July 1916, he was
rationed up to and for that day. Order was part 2 No. 171 issued by
W. L. Stephenson, 2/Lieut. & acting Adjutant, 2/1st Hunts. Cyclist
Battalion. The order was issued at Well Camp Alford at 8-00 p.m., 28th
July 1916 where he transferred to the 2nd
Bedfordshire Regt with the army number 43060
From
a local paper =
6/10/16
= Mr.
Wiles, North Road, has received a field card from France saying that his
son, Pte. C. Wiles [Cyclist Battalion] is in hospital wounded - Pte. Wiles
is now at the Base, and so is Pte. T. Fletcher wounded in the face some
time ago by shrapnel.
Fletcher has seen many of his Easton friends while there.
1/12/1916 [original source unknown - copy from scrapbook from the Norris
Museum at St. Ives] = Pte. C. Wiles (Beds. Regt.) son of Mr. W. Wiles, North Road,
Eaton Socon, is in a hospital at Stockport, suffering from a wound to
his left hand. 26/7/1918 = Mrs. C. Wiles, of Alford, Lincs. Has received
the following letter in reference to her husband, Pte. C. Wiles (Beds.
Regt.), of Cross Hall [St. Neots] :- B. E. F., France, July 16th 1918,
Dear Mrs. Wiles, - I have just received your letter of the 11th.. I very
much regret telling you of your husbands death. He was in my platoon and
although I had not been with the Platoon for long I had grown very fond
of them all, your husband a splendid soldier and one of my best men. I
hope you will forgive me for not informing you before. I am very much
afraid that this letter will be of little consolation to you. It is the
women who suffer most in these times. I have a wife myself and quite
understand how you feel. He was killed on 1st July and I regret to say
it was impossible to recover his body. - Yours very sincerely. W.
Fielden, Lt.
He is remembered in Poziers British Cemetery, Ovilliers la Boisselle, Somme France - panel
28 - 29 and remembered
on the St. Neots War Memorial
that is situated in the grounds of St. Neots Church .
Many thanks to his relation John Cotton for
confirming parts of this information. |
