Category: Military
Rank: Private 3542
Regiment or Ship: East Kent Regiment (The ‘Buffs’); French Red Cross
Service Number(s): 3542
Occupation: Furnisher’s Clerk (1911 Census)
Date of Birth: 1896
Place of Birth: Laughton, Sussex
Date of Death: 1924
Place of Death: Bexhill, Sussex
Place of Burial / Memorials:
Bexhill Cemetery – Plot DCH08 – buried: 26th August 1924. His father Stephen, was buried in the same plot on 14th February 1947.
Address: 19 Cambridge Road (1911 Census), Bexhill
Photos and newspaper articles
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Family Information
Parents:
Stephen Marchant, born 1862 in Wilmington, Sussex and Alice Amelia Kennard born Firle, Sussex. Stephen died on 10th February, 1947, leaving just over £1220 to his son Ernest Arthur, who was an estate agent.
Siblings:
Phoebe Alice Marchant born in Eastbourne, in 1883, died in 1949
Florence Gertrude Marchant, born in Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1886; nothing known of her afterwards.
Emmie Ethel Marchant born in Worth, Sussex, in 1888, died in 1953.
Mabel Lois Marchant born in Laughton, Sussex in 1894, died in 1978.
Ernest Arthur Marchant born in Pevensey, Sussex, in 1898, died in 1953.
Spouse: Stephen George Marchant never married.
First World War Experience
According to Stephen’s attestation form, he said that he had served a three-year apprenticeship, which had been completed on 14th November 1913, with Horace Tyzark, a house furnisher & upholsterer in Bexhill,
He was medically examined on 7th September 1914, at Bexhill Town Hall, and his medical report form gives his height as being 5’ 7”, and his chest measurement, expanded, as 37 inches. His complexion was said to be fresh and he had blue eyes and brown hair. His overall physical development was said to be good.
He gave his religion as “Primitive Methodist”.
His “Statement of Services” form says that he enlisted at Bexhill, for general services as a Private, on 7th September 1914 and, on the same day, was posted to the Royal Sussex Regiment. A few days later, on 12th September 1914, he joined the 8th “Buffs” with the regimental number 3542
Just about five weeks later, however, on 15th of October 1914, he was discharged under Paragraph 392 (ix) of the King’s Regulations, which meant that he had, for some reason, now been considered “Unfitted for the duties of the corps”. No further information is given, so the reason is not known.
He only ever served at home, from 7-9-14 to 15-10-14, which was a total of just 39 days.
What Stephen did after this is not known but he was, obviously, unhappy with being discharged as unfit and could play no part in the war, because so, it seems, that about March 1916, he joined the French Red Cross and subsequently was awarded French Medals of Honour.
There are two newspaper reports of Stephen receiving French Medals of Honour – over a year apart, 1917 and 1918, so it appears most likely that he won two such medals though it is not clear.