Charles George Buxton was born in Botesdale, Suffolk, on 3rd February 1882, the son of George and Emma (née Cobb). On 7th May 1903, he started work as an attendant at St Audry’s Hospital and, four years later in 1907, he married Annie Winifred Lymn in the Wolverhampton area. Annie was the sister of Joseph Ewart Lymn who also worked at St Audry’s and died while serving in the navy during the war.

The 1911 census shows Charles and Annie living in “Trafalgar Villa”, Victoria Road, Woodbridge. They also had a son, John, who at that time was living with his grandparents in Botesdale. In 1912, a second child, Dorothy, was born.

At the outbreak of war, Charles remained in the asylum service until January 1915, when he enlisted in Ipswich, joining the Royal Army Medical Corps. Less than three months later on 14th March 1915, he was on board ship bound first for Egypt and then on to Mesopotamia (Iraq) where he was attached to the No.23 Stationary Hospital based in Amara. Matron Florence Hodgins who served at the hospital at the same time as Charles described it as follows: 

 

"No 23 Stationary Hospitals was situated higher up the river; it was all under canvas and quickly increased from 250 to 1,000 beds. It was the rainy season and one lived in gum boots, wore topees and sluiced about in mud all day long. Fleas plague everyone at this time of year, but sand flies and flies come later. It can therefore be understood that we were not working in favourable conditions."  

 

While stationed in Amara, Charles fell ill with heatstroke and died at the hospital where he worked on 29th July 1916.

Charles was buried in the Amara War Cemetery and is remembered on the War Memorial at Botesdale, Suffolk, and St Andrews Church, Melton. For his war service, Charles’s family received the 1914-15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals.

After the death of Charles, Annie moved back to live with her family in Walsall. She later married William Mortimer in 1918.