War can highlight the bravery of otherwise ordinary men and women but can also starkly illustrate the role of luck that can mean the difference between survival and tragedy.
For Bombardier Charles Armson it was both.
Aged 18 Charles Armson volunteered and was quickly on the way to France with the Royal Horse Artillery. He soon progressed to the rank of Bombardier (equivalent to corporal) and for bravery in the field was awarded the Military Medal. The MM is a high award for bravery ranking below only the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Charles survived the mud and mayhem of the First World War – one of the lucky ones.
In 1941, with the Second World War progressing badly for Britain, he answered the call to help his country for the second time and joined the RAF, in his mid 40s, as ground crew. As a Leading Aircraftsman he was part of a Coastal Command unit at Milltown, Moray in Scotland.
On September 23, 1944, he slipped from an articulated truck, fell under the wheels and was crushed. It was ironic that after showing such bravery under fire and in still serving aged 49, that such bad luck ended his life. Ldg Aircraftsman Armson is buried in Kibworth cemetery, Leicestershire.
Able Seaman Alfred Musson, 35, also suffered cruel luck on December 22, 1941. He had just returned from leave in Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, when he tripped on a heavy chain on the runway of his ship HMS Chrysanthemum which was moored in the Thames in London. It was pitch dark because of the blackout and he fell into the icy current of the river. Despite attempts to rescue him from the bank he disappeared. An inquest after his body was recovered by the river police some days later found he had died from shock. Able Seaman Musson is buried in his home town cemetery.
When Commonwealth War Graves are mentioned, for most of us the immediate image conjured is of those moving acres of white gravestones in immaculate grounds in all parts of the world. Unsurprising, as our forces have always done their fighting, and dying, abroad. But in almost every cemetery and churchyard in Britain there are scatterings of those distinctive CWG stones all commemorating servicemen and women who made their sacrifice closer to home. There are stories of great heroism, tragedy, stoicism or devotion to duty, often all of those. Choice is telling some of those stories mainly from the Second World War as a way of following the time-honoured credo “We Will Remember Them”. We are starting in Norman Wright’s local
Leicestershire graveyards but we aim to spread our net further afield as we plan to bring a story every week until Remembrance Sunday 2025.
Next week: Mistaken identity led to an airman being buried in the wrong grave.
