Charlie “Charles" Joiner

Charlie Joiner won a scholarship to John Lyon School before becoming a civil servant and later joining the Queen Victoria’s Rifles during the WW1 War. He was killed by a shell during fighting at Ypres on 24 April 1915, aged 22, and was buried behind the firing line by members of his section.

Civilian Life - Charlie was born in Amersham around 1893. His name was registered at birth as Charlie, and this was also the name recorded in the 1901 and 1911 censuses, but later military, probate and newspaper records generally used Charles. He was the son of Herbert and Emily Joiner and grew up with a large family of brothers and sisters. His father worked as a greengrocer in St Ann’s Road, Harrow, and was later a licensed victualler in Slough.

Charlie was educated at Greenhill Boys’ School, where he won a scholarship to John Lyon School, Harrow. He attended the Lower School of John Lyon and completed his education there. By 1911, Charlie was living at 146 Vaughan Road, Harrow, with his uncle William Joiner, while his parents and siblings were living in Slough. He was working as a civil servant for the Board of Agriculture. John Lyon School recorded that he was a gifted student and had obtained a position in the Civil Service before leaving school.

Military Life - After the outbreak of the First World War, Charlie joined the Queen’s Westminsters, although the surviving military records identify him as Rifleman Charles Joiner, service number 3857, of the 1st/9th Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles). In December 1914, while occupying flooded, muddy trenches at Rue du Bois opposite the German Saxon 107th Regiment, the 1/16th participated in the famous Christmas Truce, exchanging carols and conversation with enemy troops. In 1915, the battalion spent eight grueling months in the volatile Ypres Salient, occupying nearly every section of the northern line from the Ypres-Roulers railway line to Wieltje. Charles died at Hill 60, a highly strategic, man made earthen hill lock located near Zillebeke just southeast of Ypres, Belgium.

The Queen Victoria’s Rifles (QVR) were thrown into a desperate, close-quarters defense of Hill 60. British forces had captured the hill on April 17 using massive underground mines, but the German Army launched relentless, devastating counter-attacks to seize it back. By April 20–24, the QVR trenches on the hill were subjected to non-stop, heavy artillery bombardments, continuous waves of hand grenades, and intense machine-gun fire. Charlie was killed during the peak of this horrific holding action, just as the wider Second Battle of Ypres was erupting across the sector. A letter sent to his father by Lieutenant W. Upward stated that Charlie had been killed by a shell and died instantly.

A fellow rifleman, R. J. Hawtin wrote to one of Charlie's sisters (we don't know which one.) He described Charlie as his best chum and reported that he had been buried behind the firing line by members of his section. Hawtin also forwarded a letter found on Charlie's body to her.

Charlie is commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres, indicating that the temporary grave mentioned by Hawtin was probably never identified subsequently. He is also recorded on war memorials at John Lyon School and St Mary’s Church, Slough.