MALSON Pte Christoper, Killed in action Salonika, 1916 (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, March 02, 2015, 17:55 (3548 days ago) @ Jefff

Ancestry carries various Army Records for Levi's son Christoper Malsom which helpfully also mention his parents/ Like so many Foresters he joined the South Wales Borderers at Newport, sadly he gave his life in 1916;

Name: Christopher Malsom
Age: 26
Birth Date: abt 1890
Death Date: 16 Jun 1916
Cemetery: Salonika Anglo-French Military Cemetery
Burial Country: Greece
Father: Mr L A Malsom
Mother: Mrs Malsom
Regiment: South Wales Borderers
Regimental Number: 8/17832
Region or Memorial: Greece
The above record image includes "Malsom, Pte Christoper, 8th Bn South Wales Borderers. Son of Mr and Mrs L.A. Malsom, of Bilson Green, near Bilson House, Cinderford."
see http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/625172/MALSOM,%20CHRISTOPHER
"At the invitation of the Greek Prime Minister, M.Venizelos, Salonika (now Thessalonika) was occupied by three French Divisions and the 10th (Irish) Division from Gallipoli in October 1915. Other French and Commonwealth forces landed during the year and in the summer of 1916, they were joined by Russian and Italian troops. In August 1916, a Greek revolution broke out at Salonika, with the result that the Greek national army came into the war on the Allied side.
The town was the base of the British Salonika Force and it contained, from time to time, eighteen general and stationary hospitals. Three of these hospitals were Canadian, although there were no other Canadian units in the force.
The earliest Commonwealth burials took place in the local Protestant and Roman Catholic cemeteries. Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery (formerly known as the Anglo-French Military Cemetery) was begun in November 1915 and Commonwealth, French, Serbian, Italian and Russian sections were formed. The Commonwealth section remained in use until October 1918, although from the beginning of 1917, burials were also made in Mikra British Cemetery. After the Armistice, some graves were brought in from other cemeteries in Macedonia, Albania and from Scala Cemetery, near Cassivita, on the island of Thasos.
There are now 1,648 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. The Commonwealth plot also contains 45 Bulgarian and one Serbian war graves."

Christoper is named on the plague on Cinderford's War Memorial, see http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=thread&id=43700.
He is within this FoD site's WW1 Servicemen database, as are other Cinderford Malsoms such as Charles & Ernest, his brothers perhaps ?.
RIP Pte 17832 C.L. Malson.

8th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Brecon on 19 September 1914 as part of K3 and came under orders of 67th Brigade, 22nd Division. Record same as 7th Bn but sailed from Marseilles 30 October 1915.
7th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Brecon on 14 September 1914 as part of K3 and came under orders of 67th Brigade, 22nd Division. Moved to Seaford but by December 1914 was in billets in St Leonards. Returned to Seaford in April 1915 and moved to Aldershot by the end of May.
Landed at Boulogne on 6 September 1915 but sailed at Marseilles on 10 October for service in Salonika.
from http://www.1914-1918.net/swb.htm

Searching the BNA site gives this extensive Roll of Honour article;

Gloucester Journal of Saturday 15th July 1916;

"FORESTERS’ ROLL OF HONOUR
The recent casualty lists have contained the names of several more Forest boys who have fallen in the great war. Official information has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Levi Malsom. Bilson Green, Cinderford, of the death of their son, Pte. Christopher Malsom (26), which occurred as tbe result of a bombing accident on June 16th. The young man was a collier at Ligbtmoor, and latterly worked in South Wales, where on the outbreak of war he joined the South Wales Borderers. He was selected from the Battalion to be a grenadier, so Captain John England writes to the distressed parents, and was looked upon as one of the most reliable bombers.
News of the death of Pte. Theo Gabb. son of Mr. William Gabb, has been received in Cinderford. The War Office had notified Mr. Gabb that his son was missing, and later letter has come from an officer of the battalion saying it was his sad dutv to report the expected death of the soldier in question. “He was,” the writer says, "carrying out some very gallant work and was badly wounded. Every night since the accident search had been made, but no trace of the brave bugler was found.” The loss of this son is particularly sad, as on September 25th, 1915, another son, Dennis, of the Gloucesters, lost bis life.
The news of a double bereavement of the family of Mr. and Mrs. George Edwards, of Buckshaft, Ruspidge, has also fallen heavily upon the whole neighbourhood, when a letter came announcing that two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards had been killed in action. Two comrades sent the distressing news, and said that Alec (who was nearly 21) was killed by a bullet through the head. The following evening his brother Arthur also met his death through a piece of shrapnel striking his bend. Both deaths were instantaneous. Both soldiers were highly respected in the district, being faithful members of the Wesleyan Sunday School and Band of Hope, also members of the Rechabite Order. The younger boy worked at Lightmoor, and the elder was employed in forestry.
A letter from the captain has been received by Mrs Cooper, Bilson Green, telling her that her son, Pte. William John Cooper, who enlisted on June 7th, 1915, in the Gloucestershire Regiment, was struck down while executing a brilliant piece of work. He did his duty well, and died as a Britisher. The officer expressed the hope that Mrs. Cooper would be given strength to bear the blow, knowing that his life was not wasted, but given to his country to leave it a better place than he found it.
Mrs. Hancock. of the Bell Inn. Littledean, received intimation that her brother, Pte. Owen Williams, had been killed in action, but a further report states he is missing.
We also learn than Pte. Harry Thynne. St. Briavels, of the Gloucestershire Regiment, is reported wounded in the arm, and is in hospital at Chatham. Pte. Harold Havward, of the A.S.C.. is also badlv wounded in the eyes, and is being treated at Leeds."