Douglas Arthur Wallace Turner
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Douglas Arthur Wallace Turner was the son of Douglas Turner and Fanny West who married at Radford St Peter’s Church in January 1894. Their children included: Douglas Arthur Wallace (b.1894), Samuel Harold (b.1897), Thomas Edward (b.1899), William Henry (b.1903) and Frederick (b.1905). The Turner family lived at: 10 Wallan Street, Radford [C.1901]; 5 Osborne Street, Radford [C.1911]; 14 Harold Road, Radford [CWGC]. Douglas Turner, who in 1911 was a motorman working for Nottingham Corporation, died at Nottingham in 1930, aged 63. His wife Fanny predeceased him, dying at Nottingham in 1927, aged 62. In 1911 Douglas Turner could be found lodging with a family in Netherfield Road, Everton,
He enlisted at Derby on 13 November 1912; on 28 March 1913 he was posted to the 2nd Bn. Sherwood Foresters; he was sent to France on 8 September 1914; he was taken prisoner by the Germans on 20 October 1914; sent to Hamelin on the Weser and while in a prisoner of war camp there in April 1916 developed pulmonary tuberculosis; was sent to a hospital in German on 23 May 1916 and seven days later sent to Leysin, Switzerland; on 2 December 1917 he was repatriated to England; as he was no longer physically fit to serve he was discharged from the Army on 11 January 1918 at Litchfield; returned to his family home at 14 Harold Road, Radford; he died at Nottingham on 6 October 1918 and was buried at the General Cemetery, Nottingham. Douglas Turner senior was not at home in the 1901 census and as his wife, Fanny, described herself as a soldier’s wife, we can presume that he was off fighting in the Boer War.
His brother, Samuel Harold Turner, of the 11th Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers died on 16 August 1917. Nottingham Evening Post, 10 October 1918: ‘Repatriated Prisoner. Buried with Military Honours in Nottingham. Private Douglas Turner, Sherwood Foresters, whose home is in Wilton-road, Hartley-road, Nottingham, was buried in the General Cemetery with full military honours this afternoon. Private Turner was taken prisoner by the Germans in October, 1914, and was repatriated last year, having contracted tuberculosis from which he died in the general Hospital, Nottingham, on Sunday. Miss Beatrice Whitby represented the Comforts for Troops Fund Committee at the funeral, and the helpers at the Comforts Offices sent a floral tribute.’
