A YOUNG Taunton man who had just enlisted in the British Army probably had a premonition he would not return from the First World War when he sat down with his solicitor to write his will.

It was August 1914 and Frederick Fuge was an assistant master at Bow Road School and a London University undergraduate when he signed up within a fortnight of hostilities being declared.

He joined the Queen's Westminster Regiment before gaining a commission in the 6th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry, seeing action at Ypres and the Somme.

But two years after proudly donning his uniform for the first time, 25-year-old Freddie's luck ran out and he was killed during the bloody Battle of the Somme.

Frederick Fuge is among 100 men from the Taunton parish of St James who perished in the 1914-18 conflict.

He was born in Canon Street in 1890, later living in St James Street, between the Ring of Bells and the church.

Freddie attended St James School and then Huish School, where he was "a most successful pupil", and also spent time as a pupil teacher at St James, where the headmaster called him "very capable".

He later moved to London to study at St Mark's College, Chelsea, before taking up a teaching post and embarking on a degree.

His career was interrupted by the outbreak of war, when Freddie answered the call of duty.

Before heading for the front he made his will, which demonstrated how Taunton remained close to his heart, with his family, old school and a lifelong friend among the beneficiaries.

Freddie saw hundreds of colleagues die over the next two years before meeting his end at Delville Wood, on August 12, 1916, by which time he was a lieutenant.

His commander, Capt E. D. Pain, wrote to his trusted officer's parents saying Freddie died "carrying out a daring piece of work".

He wrote: "I heard the crack of a rifle and then your son calling me by name.

"I saw he had fallen by a tree, so I crawled up to him, after calling some of our men to come out with rifles and protect him while the stretcher bearers were fetched."

But nothing could be done to save the wounded hero and Capt Pain added: "Your son never lost consciousness until after he was brought into our own lines, but he said very little.

"He knew he had been badly hit, but no word of complaint touched his lips."

A tablet commemorating Freddie's death commissioned by his parents can still be seen in St James Church, Taunton.

*With thanks to Jenny Wakefield and members of St James who carried researched Frederick Fuge's life as part of a tribute to men from the parish who died in the Great War.