Name
Horace Wheatley
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
08/11/1916
31
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
G/13508
The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Pier and Face 5 D and 6 D.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Stevenage Old Town Memorial, St Nicholas' Church Memorial, Stevenage Old Town, Holy Trinity Church Memorial Roll of Honour, Stevenage Old Town, Not on the St Albans memorials
Pre War
Horace was born in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. It is uncertain when he moved to Stevenage but his son, William, was born in the town in 1907.
Horace was an Estate Gamekeeper and was working the Kimpton area by 1911, and was reported to be coachman to Mr. J Moulden of Hitchin Road, Stevenage and eventually moved to Godstone, Surrey, where he enlisted in the Army. Although by the time of his death his wife was living in Stevenage.
Wartime Service
His Battalion and had moved into the trenches from Albert on the night of 3rd November 1916, in order to relieve the men of the 10th Essex Regiment. They were situated in Regina & Hessian Trench where they remained through the next few days. Life in the trenches at this time was desperately uncomfortable. The cold and wet of the winter months and the continual shelling by German artillery made every day a miserable event.
The Battalion provided working parties to work on trench defences but the wet conditions seriously hampered their efforts. On the 6th November the Battalion moved from the front line trenches to the nearby support trenches. Here they prepared to be relieved by the 7th Royal Kent Regiment and on the 8th November the relief began. This movement of troops became a target for the German artillery who began to shell the area very heavily, resulting in many casualties. It was during this relief that Horace Wheatley was killed and it is believed that shellfire. He has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial. Somme, France.
Additional Information
www.stevenageatwar.com
Acknowledgments
Gareth Hughes, Paul Johnson
