Name
Bertram (Bert/Bertie) Sheldrick
1889
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
19/03/1915
26
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
4/6266
Bedfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
STE. MARIE CEMETERY, LE HAVRE
Div. 19. A. 6.
France
Headstone Inscription
GOD GRANT TO HIM ETERNAL REST
UK & Other Memorials
Ashwell Village Memorial, St Mary’s Church Roll of Honour, Ashwell
Pre War
Bertrum (Bert/Bertie) Sheldrick was born in Thriplow, Cambridgeshire in 1889, the son of John and Martha Sheldrick (nee Scoot) and was baptised on 20 January 1889 at Thriplow. He was one of twelve children and was educated at Merchant Taylors School in Ashwell.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at West End, Ashwell, where his father was working as a labourer. They remained there in 1901 and his parents and six of his siblings were living at Back Street, Ashwell in 1911, but 22 year old Bert was then a boarder at the home of Edward and Mary Brace at 31 Talbot Street, Hertford, Herts where he was working as a general labourer.
Wartime Service
At the outbreak of war, Bert, who was already serving with the Bedfordshire Regiment Special Reserve, was called up for service and enlisted in Hitchin. He was sent to France, arriving on 2 February 1915 and was probably one of the 90 men who joined the *1st Battalion in the field on 19 February 1915.
Bert received gunshot wounds in action at Neuve Chapelle and was admitted on 18 March 1915 to the 2nd General Hospital (Canadian) where he died the following day. He is buried in Ste. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre, France.
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £3 and pay owing of £5 11s 6d. His mother received a pension of 10 shillings a week in respect of Bert and his brother John, who was killed in action in 1917 whilst serving with the South Wales Borderers.
Brothers Fred, Percy and Frank all served in the army but survived.
*[Bert's regimental number with the prefix 4/ suggests that he was in the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment, but a newspaper report at the time stated that he was "attached to the 1st Bedfords."
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Adrian Pitts, Paul Johnson, www.ashwellmuseum.org.uk
