Due to discrepancies in the census the exact date of Charles' birth is not known however we do know it was either the 10th of August 1897 or the 10th of August 1899.

Charles was born to John Conway and Mary Jane Ruttle in Lower Abbey Street, Tralee, Co. Kerry.

According to church records, Charles was baptised on the 15th of August 1897 (we therefore assume that he was born in 1897) and his godparents were Patrick Kennedy and Bridget Corridan, both of whom also lived in Abbey Street.

The 1901 census shows that Charles had 4 brothers at this time, John (6), Michael (4), William (2) and Robert (not yet 1).
Charles' mother was a Protestant however records show that she converted to Catholicism on the 5th of July 1894, the day of her marriage to Charles' father. All of the children were then raised as Catholics.

The family were raised in a three roomed private dwelling on Abbey Street. A newspaper article from The Kerryman April 19th 1919 describes the conditions of Abbey Street;

The slums of Tralee speak for themselves, mostly with fetid stench and fierce conditions of living…I accidentally happened to hear a recital a few days ago by a young girl touching on the state of certain parts of Abbey Street “the maggots were walking around the road” there, and how a month’s accumulation of evil smelling manure was competent to make the worst kind of odour feel like mere attar of roses by contrast."

The census form of 1901 shows the residents of 29 Lower Abbey Street as the Conway family.

View the 1901 census form here

View the 1901 House and Building Return Form of the Conway family here

An interesting article from The Kerryman in 1912 reports that Charles and his two friends were accosted by a local constable as they stood at a street corner flicking lighted matches and cursing at people passing by.

It read:

"Constable Keogh summoned John O’ Brien, J. Michael Sullivan, Thomas Meara and Charles Conway from Abbey Street for using bad language. Constable Keogh said that they were using very bad language. Chairman- To each other? Constable- No, your worship, to respectable people passing. Chairman- This is disgraceful."

Charles was fined 5s.

Charles is missing from the 1911 census however it does show that Charles’ mother gave birth to two more boys Daniel Joseph and Richard between 1901 and 1911.

Charles’ mother Mary Jane Ruttle died in 1911 aged 39.

Interestingly the 1911 census shows that a 21 year old servant girl moved into the Conway household that year and that her name was also Mary Jane.

Mary Jane Ryan would soon marry John Conway and they would go on to have more children.

View the 1911 Census form here 

View the 1911 House and Building Return Form of the Conway family here

Autumn 1914 saw a large number of Tralee recruits and we can only assume Charles was one of them.

He would have enlisted in Ballymullen Barracks which was the hub of military activity in Kerry and home to The Royal Munster Fusiliers. 

We do wonder however how a boy as young as Charles (either 15 or 17 at this stage) was allowed to join an Army that specifically stated that only men between 19-30 could enlist. 

Training commenced in October 1914 in Fermoy. The Battalion then moved to Mitchelstown in November and to Templemore by February 1915. They returned to Fermoy in May 1915 and had obtained a full battalion of 950 men at this stage.

The Battalion were moved to Dettingen Barracks, Aldershot, England in August 1915 for final training. They were ready for battle on the 8th of December 1915 and traveled to Southampton.

They set sail from Southampton on board the “Empress Queen” at 6.00 a.m. on the 17th of December and arrived at Le Harve on the 18th.

The Battalion headed for the trenches near Loos-en-Gohelle where they remained until August 1916 carrying out many raids along the Loos sector.

They were then transferred to the Somme on the 30th of August. Here the 8th Battalion fought alongside the Connaught Rangers as they took Guillemont Village. 

After failing during the summer of 1916, the British decided to try to take the village of Ginchy again on the 9th of September 1916. This mission was to be undertaken by the 47th and 48th Brigades (Charles being part of the 47th)

The attack was planned for 4.45 p.m. and at this time the 48th Brigade rushed the German lines from the south west.

At 4.48 p.m. the 47th attacked from the south. It is said that the 47th came under fierce German fire. 

Eventually by 5.30 p.m. the 48th Brigade had taken Ginchy. The 47th however lost 450 men, including Charles.

It can therefore be concluded that Charles Francis Conway died between 4.48 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. on the 9th of September 1916.

 Pictured above is the death penny Charles' family received after his death.

The figure of Britannia can be seen holding a wreath of leaves and acorns.

The two dolphins represent the British sea power. 

The lion symbolises the British Empire. 

The lion can also be seen at the bottom attacking the imperial eagle of Germany. 

The penny reads, “He died for Freedom and Honour”.

Charles’ parents would also have received two other medals, The Allied Victory Medal and a medal with the face of King George V on it.

This is an original Headstone Document. These documents provide details of what was actually inscribed on an individual’s headstone. Their main purpose was to help manage the enormous programme of headstone production and engraving the Commission embarked on in the immediate aftermath of the First World War.

Charles' name can be seen in the list of names in the above picture.

                It can be seen here that Charles' name was added in in red. The reason for this is unknown.

On the 27th of June 2015 I visited Charles' grave in Delville Wood Cemetery. It was an extremely moving experience to stand at the final resting place of my soldier. I placed some soil from the garden of his nephew on the grave and I also read a poem that Charles' nephew Martin Conway wrote especially for the occasion.

PowerPoint on Charles Francis Conway - Click here