Charles Shaw was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Shaw of Spon Green. Alfred Shaw of Buckley had married Esther Blundred of Longton in 1893. Their children were Charles (1894), Hanna (1897), Martha Jane (1899), Beatrice (1901), George Alfred (1906), Mary (1909), Nellie (1910), Edward (1912), and Esther 1913. Alfred died in 1946 and Esther in 1959.
Charles attested in Buckley for the Army on the 27th February 1915 aged 21. He listed his trade as ‘Pit Horseman’. The family’s address was 3, Spon Green. At his medical it was recorded that he was 5 feet 8 inches tall and had a chest measurement of 36 inches with a 4 inch expansion range. He named his Father Alfred Shaw as his next of kin. He was first appointed to the Welsh Horse Regiment (Reserves) with the regimental number 1048. He served ‘at home’ for almost a year and he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France on the 14th February 1916. In December 1916 he was transferred to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers with the new regimental number 355813. The records say that he had 14 days home leave in August 1918. He was killed in action on the 6th September 1918
Charles Shaw’s death was announced in the County Herald, September 27, 1918
News has reached Buckley of the death of Corporal Charles Shaw, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Shaw, Spon Green. He had been in the Army about four years. He was 24 years of age, and was a scholar at the United Methodist Sunday School. In communicating the details if his death, an officer states that he died without regaining consciousness.
A Memorial service was reported in the County Herald, October 1918
A crowded congregation attended the recent Sunday evening service in the United Methodist Church, in memory of three scholars who fell in battle during the month of September from this place of worship, namely, Corporal Charles Shaw, of Spon Green; Corporal Alexander Connah, Spon Green, and Private Wilfred Owens, of Chester Road. The service was conducted by Mr. William Davies and Mr. George Peters. Touching references were made to the high qualities of the fallen heroes, and letters were read from them to the Comfort Fund in acknowledgement of gifts they had received. It was stated during the service that only six weeks previously Corporal C. Shaw was present at three services at the chapel. The anthems “Vital Spark” and “Sleep on Beloved,” were rendered. At the close of the service the Organist played the “Dead March.”
Charles was one of three scholars of the United Methodist Sunday School whose deaths were reported in the same week, the others being Alexander Connah and Wilfred Owens.
