Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Biography :

Enlisted in the Leicester Military District in to the Leicestershire Regiment, 1898.

From The January Edition of, 'The Tiger' the newsletter of the Western Front Association, Leicestershire &Rutland Branch.

Francis William Cheeseman, who was known as Frank, was born in Alvaston, Derby, on the 14th
November 1880, and baptised at St. Peter’s church, Derby, on the 30th March 1881. He was the
son of Charles Cheeseman, a labourer, who hailed from London, and his wife Matilda, nee Stevens,
who had been born at Newark, Nottinghamshire. When Frank was a baby he lived with his parents,
and older siblings, Sydney and Julia, at 56, Traffic Street, St. Peter’s parish, Derby.
In 1891 the Cheeseman family lived at 28, Chamber Street, New Town, Derby. At the time of that
year’s census Frank had two more siblings, sisters Catherine, aged eight years, and one year old
Ethel. On the 25th May 1894 Sydney Cheeseman, Frank’s elder brother, who had been living at
Boulton, Derbyshire, was attested to the 3rd Militia Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters.
Following a medical examination he was approved for service the next day. The following year
Sydney transferred to the regular army. On the 25th September 1895 he was approved for service
with the Royal Artillery. In about 1896 Frank moved with the rest of his family to Leicester.
On the 14th June 1898 Frank, who had been working as a labourer, was attested to the army,
having enlisted with the intention of serving in the ranks of the Leicestershire Regiment. The terms
of his engagement required Frank to serve for seven years with the colours and five years on the
reserve. At 18 years of age Frank was recorded by the recruiting authority as being a young man
of fresh complexion, having both dark brown eyes and hair. He was 5 feet, 31⁄8 inches in height,
with a chest girth of 34 inches, which he could puff-out to 351⁄2 inches, but he only weighed in at
81⁄2 stones. However, on the day of his enlistment he was passed as medically fit and duly passed
for service with the Leicestershire Regiment – The Tigers. He reported for duty at Glen Parva
Barracks on the 17th June 1898.
Having completed his training Private, 5302, Cheeseman, was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of
his regiment on the 14th October 1898, and subsequently served at Curragh Camp, Ireland. On
the 7th February 1900 Frank sailed from Ireland, via Queenstown, with the 2nd Battalion - bound
for foreign parts. The battalion arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, on the 18th February 1900.
On the 1st August 1900, in Cairo, Frank, who had by then gained his 1st Good Conduct badge
with the Tigers, was transferred to the Royal Field Artillery (R.F.A.), and became Driver, 12780,
Cheeseman of the 56th Battery, R.F.A. His transfer to the 56th Battery R.F.A. meant that Frank
was then serving alongside his brother, Gunner, 11348, Sydney Cheeseman, who had been serving
with the same battery in Egypt since late October 1898.
In 1901 Frank’s parents were living at 7, Thorpe Street, Leicester, along with Frank’s widowed
grandmother, 81 year’s old Ann Cheeseman, and Frank’s three sisters, Catherine, Ethel, and
Martha Ann.
During March 1903 Frank’s brother returned to England and by the end of the month he was
placed on the army reserve, having completed the terms of his engagement. On the 1st April 1904
Frank extended his service arrangement to complete 8 years with the colours, on which day he was
also granted his second good conduct badge and an increase in pay. During March 1905 Frank
sailed for England and on his return was sent to Bulford Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. On
the 22nd April 1905 Sydney Cheeseman, who had returned to Leicester, married Frances Amelia

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Sketchley at St. Mary’s church. Later in that same year, on the 1st June, Frank was transferred to
the 24th Battery R.F.A., and on the 14th June 1906 he was placed on the army reserve. On his
transfer to the reserve Frank was said to be a soldier of very good conduct, he was also said to be
a good groom, having been a groom to an officer.
Having returned to 7, Thorpe Street, Leicester, on the 12th April 1909 Frank married spinster
Ellen Spencer. The wedding, like that of his brother’s, took place at St. Mary’s church. On the 30th
September 1910 Ellen Cheeseman gave birth to a daughter Edith Minnie Cheeseman. In 1911 the
three of them were living at 120, Leamington Street, Leicester. At that time Frank was working as
a blacksmith’s striker. By 1911 Frank’s brother, Sydney, and his wife, had three daughters, Evelyn,
Dora, and Gertrude. Sydney Cheeseman, who worked as a labourer for Leicester Corporation,
lived with his family at 133, Great Holme Street. Frank’s parents, two of his sisters, and two
nephews were still living at 7, Thorpe Street. By 1911 Frank’s mother had given birth to ten
children, of which five had died, including the aforementioned Julia.
On the 13th June 1914 Frank was discharged from the army reserve, having completed the terms
of his engagement. However, on the 4th August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. This
resulted in a great call to arms. Across the country Regular Army and Territorial Force units were
mobilised, and soldiers of the Army Reserve were recalled to the colours. During the early months
of the war vast numbers of men would also volunteer for service with Lord Kitchener’ New
Armies – spurred on to do so by newspaper reports about the army’s engagement with the
Germans, and how men were needed to punish the Huns that had defiled innocent little Belgium.
It was not until the 3rd April 1915 that Frank re-rejoined the army. He was in the Bristol area
when he put himself forward for service. Two days later he was approved to serve with the Army
Service Corps (A.S.C.) Remounts Service, and joined-up at Shirehampton, which was the home of
one of the four A.S.C. remount depots. The Remounts Service was responsible for the
provisioning of horses and mules to all other army units. A Remount Squadron consisted of
around 200 men, who obtained and trained horses. The Shirehampton depot looked after animals
received at Avonmouth. Joining the remount service was, perhaps, a natural choice for Frank as
he had undertaken some work as a groom after leaving the army. Although at the time of joining
the A.S.C. Frank, who was living at 124, Leamington Street, Leicester, with his wife and daughter,
was employed as a labourer by W. Scott and Sons, timber merchants; who operated a sawing,
planing and moulding mill, at 79, Sanvey Gate, Leicester.
After a few months training, on the 25th October
1915 Frank was embarked aboard the S.S. City of
Lucknow (1) at Southampton, and was disembarked
the following day at Le Havre, France. Frank served
as a Rough Rider, breaking and training horses with
31st Remount Squadron of the A.S.C. at its No. 3
Base Remount Depot, which had landed at Dieppe
at the beginning of 1915 and established itself
nearby.

S.S. City of Lucknow

On the 30th August 1916 Frank Cheeseman was appointed as a Lance Corporal with his unit, but
reverted back to Rough Rider on the 24th February 1917, having been admitted to the 5th
Stationary Hospital, Dieppe, suffering from the effects of influenza. He rejoined his unit on the

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1st March 1917. On the 24th September 1917 Rough Rider, R4/066837, Cheeseman, A.S.C., was
compulsorily transferred to the ranks of the Cheshire Regiment – he duly became Private, 51248,
Cheeseman, and served with the 1st Battalion of the regiment, which he joined on the 7th
November 1917.
The following month the 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment, as part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th
Division, was deployed to the Italian Front to bolster Italian resistance after the rout of the Italian
Army by Austro-Hungarian and German forces at the Battle of Caporetto. The 5th Division was
positioned along the River Piave. However, the following the year, in April 1918, it was returned
to France. The 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment, as part of the 5th Division, then took part in the
Battle at Hazebrouck and the defence of the Nieppe Forest. Between the 12th and 26th August
1918 Frank was allowed Furlough. He returned to his regiment which was then to play its part in
the battles of Albert, Bapaume, Drocourt-Queant, Epehy, and the Canal du Nord.
On the 17th October 1918 began the Battle of
the Selle, which followed a pursuit of German
forces to the River Selle, as they withdrew to
the line of the river. On the 23rd October 1918
Frank Cheeseman was wounded in the right
thigh by shrapnel. He was treated for his
wounds at the 19th Casualty Clearing Station
at Boisleux au Mont, some 6 miles south of
Arras. He was then removed to the 22nd
General Hospital at Dannes-Camiers, just
north of Étaples, France. Frank Cheeseman A.T. Princess Elizabeth
spent a few days in the hospital before being put aboard the Auxiliary Transport Princess
Elizabeth (2) which landed him back in England on the 30th October 1918.
That same day Frank was admitted to the Pavilion General Hospital, Brighton. Brighton Pavilion
had been transformed into a hospital in the early months of the war, and from April 1916 had
been primarily involved in treating servicemen with limb wounds. Whilst Frank was in hospital the
Armistice was announced, and on that same day, the 11th November 1918, his commanding
officer recorded that Frank had been awarded the Military Medal, for Bravery in the Field. The
award would be confirmed in New Year editions of the London and Edinburgh Gazettes.
In hospital, at Brighton, Frank had his wound re-sutured on the 16th November 1918. Just after
Christmas, on the 27th December 1918, Frank was sent home to Leicester, with an allowance to
be at home until the 7th January 1919. He was discharged from the books of the Brighton hospital
on the 20th January 1919, and placed under the 5th Northern General Hospital, Leicester, for any
future care. He was later medically examined at Leicester and found to be suffering from no
disabilities as a result of his wound.
Frank was discharged from the army on the 19th February 1919, and transferred to the Class Z
Army Reserve. After the war, in recognition of his overseas service Francis William Cheeseman
was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal to complement
his Military Medal.
In 1939 Frank Cheeseman was living with his wife, Ellen, and his niece, Margaret Lilian Cheeseman
(3), at 14, Mavis Avenue, Leicester, having moved from Leamington Street sometime after

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1930. Frank’s brother, Sydney, lived with his wife, Frances, at 79, Braunstone Avenue, Leicester.
During 1942 Margaret Lilian Cheeseman married Kenneth Joseph West.
Frank Cheeseman died in Leicester during 1967, he was 86 years’ old. His widow, Ellen, died in
about 1973.

Place of Birth : & Alvaston & Derbyshire

Period of Service : 1890s