Charles Garton Howe

War Service

Charles Garton Howe served in the Army during the First World War, but it is not known whether he was a volunteer or conscript. Very little information is available regarding his service career and it is not known in what regiment he served. However, because he developed malaria in 1916, it is possible that he served in Salonika, where this illness was rife.
The Allies had been invited into Macedonia to assist the Serbs in their fight against Bulgaria, an ally of Germany. They arrived too late to help the Serbs, but nevertheless stayed to defend against further attacks by the Bulgars. The Allies were based at the port of Salonika and built a defensive ring of barbed wire, known as “The Birdcage”, from the Vardar Marshes in the west to the Gulf of Orfano and Aegean Sea in the east. The marshes and surrounding water was home to the mosquito fly and subsequently hundreds of Allied troops succumbed to malaria. In addition quinine tablets, which were taken to combat the illness, were in short supply. Such was the effect on the troops that in the spring of 1918 over 2,500 troops were sent home from Macedonia with chronic malaria.
Charles Garton Howe was discharged from the army with a pension.

Family Life

Charles Garton Howe was born in 1894, the first son and second child of Albert Charles Howe and his wife Florence, formerly Garton. The family lived in the Morley area, where his father was employed as a railway signalman. In 1901 Albert and Florence Howe, now with three children, were living at Station Lane, Outwood. However at the time of the 1911 census, the family was living at 21, Wellands Terrace, Bradford. His father was still employed as a railway signalman and Charles Garton Howe had left school and obtained work as a clerk, on the railway.
After his discharge from the army, Charles Garton Howe returned to his job as a railway booking clerk. His parents were still living at 21, Wellands Terrace, Bradford. In the summer of 1919, Charles Garton Howe married Kate Clift, the daughter of Thomas and Louisa Clift of Ledger Lane, Outwood. However, shortly afterwards, on 28th February 1920 Charles Garton Howe died at the age of 25 years. During his service in the Army he had contracted Malaria and suffered the effects of this illness for three and a half years before he died. The death certificate indicates that his father was present at the death, the cause of which was given as Malaria (3 ½ years) and Myocardiac Degeneration.