Great Torrington Remembers
Lance Corporal Charles Copp
Third Engineer Ernest Reginald Copp
Lance Corporal Charles Copp
Charles and Ernest were brothers who would both see action in the First World War. They were both born in Ilfracombe in 1889 and 1892 respectively. Their father, Thomas Copp, who was originally from Roborough, was a ‘coach proprietor’; their mother, Edith, was born in Bideford.
The 1901 census has the family living at 109 High Street, Ilfracombe. The family also includes their two brothers, Thomas, whose occupation is listed as a ‘coach office clerk’, presumably in the family business, and Arthur, who is of school age. The household also comprises of Florence Hunt, a visitor from London, and Maude Ley, who is a domestic servant.
By 1911 the brothers’ lives had taken different directions. By this time Ernest, now aged 19 years, had moved to Bristol living at 29 Belvoir Road. He is listed as living as a boarder with the Hawkins family. The Hawkins family includes the head, James Henry, a ‘tailor master’, his wife, Ada Augusta Mary, a ‘school mistress’ and their son, Cecil Henry Lionel, who was of school age at the time. Annie Provins also resides at the property and acts as a general domestic servant. Ernest’s profession is listed as an ‘apprentice to general engineering’.
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​Charles, by contrast, remained in North Devon and moved to Great Torrington. His address is listed as ‘Moortown Farm’, Great Torrington. At this point, his occupation is as a smallholder and foreman on the farm. His father, Thomas, is also resident, although his mother isn’t on this list and she remains living in Ilfracombe. However, I should point out that this is no reflection of their marital situation as later paperwork still has them at the same address. The household is made up of two servants; Annie Louise Gould is a domestic, aged 15 and Thomas Hill, who is 21, is a horseman on the farm.
Just as the brothers’ lives would head in different directions, so would their service in the military. Charles enlisted with the 1/6th Devons in Barnstaple in August 1914 at the outbreak of the war. He held the serial number 2221 and the rank of Lance Corporal. On 9th October 1914, under the orders of the wider Devon and Cornwall Brigade, they set sail for India; they landed in Karachi on 11th November. The plan was for them to be based in Lahore and engaged in internal security operations, which would effectively be non-combat duties. However, records show a number of officers volunteered for assignments that would see combat and were subsequently attached to other regiments. In Charles’ case, he was attached to the 2nd Dorsetshire Battalion.
At the outbreak of war, the 2nd Dorsets were already stationed in, Poona, India and the early intention was for them being sent to serve in the East African campaign. However, the threat of Turkey entering the war and the ongoing work to the German financed railroad to Baghdad altered these plans and led to the battalion heading for the Mesopotamia theatre, or Iraq as it is known today. Although seeing a number of early victories in the field, the battalion’s early engagements cost them dearly that saw them lose around a quarter of their fighting strength, hence the need to dragoon troops from other battalions. At this point, the 2nd Dorsets were under the 6th Poona Division, which was mostly made up of Indian troops.
The Battle of Ctesiphion
The British forces had captured the city of Kut in eastern Iraq on the River Tigris and there was a will to push deeper toward Baghdad particularly bearing in mind the earlier successes in the region. The main tactical disadvantage to this would be the long and strained supply lines needed to facilitate such an advance. The situation would also be made tricky by the Turks withdrawal from Kut to strong defensive positions in the ancient ruins of Ctesiphion; these consisted of two heavily fortified lines of deep trenches astride of the Tigris and occupied by some 18,000 troops, many of whom had already experienced combat. In contrast, the allied forces amounted to around 11,000 troops.
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The attack commenced on the 22nd November 1915 with a night assault. There were a few mishaps in the early fighting, like troops getting lost in the dark hours, but otherwise the Anglo-Indian forces were able to overrun the first of the enemy trench lines on the first night. The following night saw a counter-offensive by the Turks in an attempt to retake the lost ground. Although they were not successful the casualties were huge with 40% of servicemen being killed or injured, this equated to around 4,500 men. At this point, and knowing the there were no chance of reinforcements, whilst they were far more likely for the Turks, the British forces opted to retreat back to Kut. The Turks advanced hot on the heels of the British retreat; this saw them besiege the city of Kut.
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Reports show that Charles was killed in engagements following the Battle of Ctesiphion and the withdrawal to Kut [1]. These reports tell that he was injured in the fighting in early December and died of his wounds on December 12th 1915.
Ernest, on the other hand, joined the merchant navy. Sadly, I have been unable to find any details of his recruitment and dates. We do know that he held the rank of Third Engineer, which was presumably obtained as a result of his civilian engineering experience. We also know that he was assigned to the ship SS Santa Amelia. As we have seen from other stories, cargo freighters would commonly be armed and manned for their own defence at sea. The SS Santa Amelia was a steel construction cargo ship, powered by steam, built in 1906 and owned by the Eagle Oil & Shipping Co.
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Records show that the ship was attacked off the Irish coast on 28th December 1917. The German U-boat, SM U-19, torpedoed without warning and sunk the Santa Amelia in the North Atlantic 30 miles northwest of Malin Head. The crew of 43 hands were all lost at sea. As an aside but as a point of interest, I noted that a high percentage of the crew were of Chinese nationality and are subsequently remembered on the Hong Kong naval memorial.
The brothers are remembered on the Great Torrington war memorial, as well as the Ilfracombe memorial. Charles has no known grave but his name is listed on the Amara War Cemetery in Iraq. Similarly, Ernest’s grave is unmarked, but he is commemorated at the Tower Hill naval memorial in London.
Sadly, in my research, I have been unable trace any descendants. Of course, I am keen to hear from any to learn more about their lives.
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[1] North Devon Journal. December 30th 1915. ‘Another Ilfracombe Soldier Killed in Action’.