Died
3 August 1944
Aged 20
Sources
Place
Walks
Themes
Lance Corporal Robert Chapman (2665349)
5th Battn Coldstream Guards
This is not a standard CWGC headstone, though it is similar in appearance. Robert Chapman’s CWGC headstone is in France.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
MY DEAR WIFE
LILY CHAPMAN
WHO DIED 28TH JAN 1966,
AGED 66 YEARS.
ALSO
JOHN WILLIAM CHAPMAN
WHO DIED 12TH DEC. 1972
AGED 76 YEARS
ALSO
OUR DEARLY BELOVED SON
ROBERT CHAPMAN
KILLED IN ACTION
AUG. 3RD 1944
AGED 20 YEARS
“O VALIANT HEART”
Barrow News 2 September 1944
CWGC says that Robert Chapman was the son of John William and Lily Chapman, of Newland, Lancashire. He is buried in St. Charles De Percy War Cemetery, near Caen, along with over 800 other casualties of the Normandy invasion.
An interesting thread on a WW2 chat website reads: “The story in my family was that he was wounded and taken in by a French family and tended to through the night but died there in the night or next morning. I notice from the cemetery consolidation records of the CWGC that he was originally buried in the Le Homme - La Ferronniere area whereas many others killed on the 3rd were buried further south near La Marvindiere.
To end the story, apparently his mother travelled to France after the war and found the house he had been looked after in, and his helmet was hanging on the wall kept by the family.”
1921 Census
From Ancestry, we learn that in the 1921 Census Robert Chapman’s father was living with his birth family at 14 Tarnside, Ulverston. The household held Peter Askew Chapman (62) Carter? (Wood) working for John Coward, Wood Merchant, born Lowick, Lancs; Margaret Chapman (61) Home Duties, born Dunnerdale, Lancs; Mabel Isabel Chapman (29) Single, Dressmaker, Cooperative Society, Brogden Street, Ulverston, born Ulverston; John William Chapman (24) Single, Ulverston Iron and Steel Co. (Out of Work), born Ulverston; Florence May Chapman (20) Single, Domestic Servant (Private), born Ulverston; Hilda Chapman (10) Granddaughter, Whole time school, born Lytham, Lancs.
John William Chapman married Lily Woodward Q2 1922 in Ulverston.
The 1939 Register
In the 1939 Register, John W. Chapman (DoB 16 September 1896) Iron Moulder, is living at Moss Lea, nr. Newland, with his wife Lily Chapman (DoB 14 July 1899) Unpaid Domestic Duties. The next record, likely to be Robert Chapman, is redacted. I have not found any other children of John and Lily Chapman.
The Barrow News 2 September 1944 had news of L. Corpl. Chapman’s death:
Ulverston Soldier Killed In Action
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Chapman, of Moss Lea, Plumpton, have received notification that their only son, L.-Corpl. Robert Chapman, of the Coldstream Guards, has been killed in action.
Twenty years of age, he was educated at Lightburn Council School and the Ulverston Grammar School. Prior to joining the Coldstream Guards in August 1942, he was employed by Messrs. Murray and Baird, surveyors, Edinburgh.
When he died on 12 December 1972 John William Chapman was living at Croft End Bungalow, Newlands, Ulverston. (National Probate Calendar 1973)
