Commemorated:

1. Memorial:Pozieres MemorialPanel 48.
2. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour37D GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

 

Family :

Husband of Muriel Evelyn Fairweather, of 70, Parchment St., Winchester. Schoolmaster (1916)

Cyril was born in Manorowen, Pembrokeshire, on the 28th September 1893, the firstborn child of John and Emma Fairweather (neé Bullamore). John was originally from Stowmarket in Suffolk, and Emma was from Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire. By the time Cyril was born, John was the teacher at Tredafydd School, Manorowen. It is possible that his mother was also teaching at the same school.

By 1901 the family had moved to Exbury, Hampshire, in the New Forest. John and Emma, both described as schoolteachers, were living at the School House. The National School at Exbury was where Cyril received his early education. By 1901, there was a second son, Stanley (2), who had been born in Exbury. Living with them was Maud Mumford, a 14 year old servant from Ireland.

Education & Career :

Educated at Peter Symonds’ School in Winchester.

Peter Symonds’ School was founded as a secondary school for Winchester boys. It opened in May 1887 at 39 Southgate Street, Winchester with Rev Telford Varley as the first Headmaster. As well as day pupils the school had a number of boarders. The Rev Telford Varley was by all accounts a formidable character. The boys were in awe of him and he was known for his fearsome temper and quirky punishments. His response to finding a boy climbing through a classroom window was to make him do it 50 times after school while he sat and marked his books. In December 1899 the school moved to its present site in Cranford Road. At that time there were 87 boys on the register for which the Headmaster was paid £4 each in addition to his £100 salary. After Peter Symonds and before he started at College, Cyril spent some time working as a pupil teacher at Hythe Council School in Southampton.

The year after Cyril was recorded in the census at Peter Symonds’ School, he began a two year course at the Diocesan Training College in Winchester. He had taken the Senior Cambridge Entrance Examination in July 1911, achieving a 2nd Class pass. In his first college exams taken at Christmas 1912, Cyril was 17th in the order of merit with an average mark of 62.2%. By Christmas of his second year he was 22nd with an average of 58.3%.

There are few references to Cyril in the College magazines of the period, probably as he was involved in publishing it. In his first year he became the Sub-Editor, then taking on the job of Editor in his final year.

When he first arrived at college Cyril enlisted in the college company, B Company of the 4th Hampshires. At the age of 18 his height was recorded as 5ft 5in, his chest measurement was 34½ in. He was short sighted and used spectacles.
At the end of his course in Winchester, Cyril was awarded B grades in Music, Drawing and Science, and a C grade in teaching.

When Cyril left College in the summer of 1914 he had secured himself a job at the Church of England (Mixed) School in Bitterne, Southampton. It is unlikely that he ever took up that post as records suggest that he enlisted in August 1914.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: 14/Hampshire Regiment 

14th (Service) Battalion (1st Portsmouth) Formed at Portsmouth on 3 September 1914 by the Mayor and a local Committee. Adopted by War Office on 30 May 1915. October 1915 : moved to Witley and attached to 116th Brigade in 39th Division. Landed at Le Havre 6 March 1916. 22 March 1918 : disbanded in France.

Action : The First Battles of the Somme 1918 and associated actions 

21 March - 4 July 1918. The Battles of the Somme in 1918 were mostly concerned with stemming the German advance which started in March 1918 and which made considerable gains in the Somme/Arras sector. Utilising surplus troops which had become available following the surrender of Russia after the October Revolution, the Germans gambled on a massive campaign that could win the war in the west before the USA could bring its resources to bear. Initial gains were in places spectacular but eventually dogged resistance coupled with supply problems and sheer exhaustion closed down the battle. Other attacks were launched along the front to probe the Allied defences but the same pattern of initial gains followed by stalemate prevailed. British casualties were almost 345,000.

Cyril enlisted in the 4th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. In his two years at college the paperwork shows that he had grown two inches taller and his chest measurement had increased to 35 inches. Cyril’s military record tells us of his promotions and postings:
June 1914 – (still part of the College Company) promoted to Corporal
September 1914 – Promoted to Sergeant
December 1914 – India (Quetta)
May 1915 – Promoted to Company Quartermaster sergeant
May 1916 – Returned home for officer training and commissioning.

Cyril was granted a month’s furlough prior to his officer training. His referees for commissioning were his former headmaster Telford Varley and his former College Principal Captain Wainwright.

January 1917 – commissioned as Second Lieutenant.

The Western Gazette from Friday 26th February 1915 carried an article written just after his promotion to Colour Sergeant, which interestingly is not documented in his records held at the National Archives:
With the 4th Hants in India – Mr Cyril Fairweather of Exbury, has written home to say that the Winchester Training College Company of Territorials of which he is a member is now quite settled in its new quarters at Kitchenor Barracks, Quetta, India, N.W. Mr Cyril Fairweather’s friends will be pleased to hear that he has just been promoted to the rank of Colour-Sergeant, and as he is only 21 years of age, he is probably one of the youngest colour-sergeants in the British Army.
In March 1917, Cyril was able to secure some leave to marry Muriel Evelyn Abraham in Warminster, Wiltshire. By March the following year Cyril was in France with the 2/4th Hants, attached to the 14th Battalion, part of the 39th Division.

Detail :

German High Command had decided to make a decisive attack in the west to attempt to destroy the British Army. This was given the code-name Operation Michael and is referred to as the Battle of St. Quentin. The Germans were transferring troops from the Eastern Front to the Somme area of France in preparation for a series of large scale offensives. They believed that the British troops were exhausted by the four major efforts of 1917, Arras, Messines, Passchendaele and Cambrai. Operation Michael was to strike at the British Third and Fifth Armies along the full extent of the line from the River Oise to the River Sensée. The aim was to cut through British defences on the Somme, sever lines of communication and surround them, leaving no option but to surrender. British troops had taken over the French lines and much work was needed to improve their defensive capability. The manpower to do the necessary work was not available. There were no second or third lines of defence. As the German strength was increasing the British Army was severely depleted and having to deal with low morale, a manpower crisis and reorganisation. As the Germans had previously laid waste to the entire area there were no significant geographical barriers apart from the River Somme south of Peronne and the Canal du Nord to the north.

It was on this day that Cyril was reported as missing. His wife had given her contact address as Abbotts Barton Farm, Worthy Rd, Winchester. In February of the following year Muriel Fairweather asked for a death certificate to enable her to conclude her husband’s affairs. In March she was issued with a letter of presumption which stated that:

No further information has been received and in view of the lapse of time since he was reported missing his death has now been accepted for official purposes as having occurred on or since the 22nd March 1918.

Letters of presumption were generally accepted in lieu of death certificates and Muriel was then able to receive the money left to her in Cyril’s will.

His body was either never found or not identified, and he is commemorated at Pozieres, France and on the War Memorial at Exbury village church.

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : Quetta No. 2333 E.C.Pakistan

Initiated
Passed
Raised
17th April 1916
15th May 1916
-
 

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2020-12-03 11:58:27