(35) William James Ernest Revell

Start of the Flu Pandemic

Private William James Ernest Revell (35) was the son of Alfred and Louisa Revell of High Street, South Benfleet and was born on the 8th April 1895 in Benfleet. He was unmarried.

He joined the Essex Yeomanry in 1913. He was mobilised in August 1914 and sent to France on 30th November 1914. Here he was attached to the 10th Hussars. He was wounded at Ypres in May 1915.

On 24th September 1918 he was home on leave, but died only four days later on the 28th September in a hospital in France from double pneumonia aged 23.

The 1918 Flu Pandemic ran from January 1918 to December 1920 and infected 500 million people around the world. It killed between 50 and 100 million of them. It was unusual in that it mostly killed young adults. The majority of deaths were from pneumonia and it killed rapidly. It is highly likely that this is what killed Private William James Ernest Revell (35).

Comments about this page

Add your own comment

  • He was my granduncle on my mother’s side. I have his three medals mounted in a case.

    By John Gothard (27/01/2020)

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.