Name
Cecil George Gardner
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
29/05/1919
31
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
233508
London Regiment *1
2nd (City of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
STEVENAGE (ST. NICHOLAS) CHURCHYARD
United Kingdom
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
Pre War
Cecil was the son of John & Ann Gardner. Very little is known about his early life but when he enlisted in the Army he was living in Albert Street, Stevenage. His sister, Jessie, was the publican of the North Star in the High Street.
Wartime Service
Cecil’s military career was a relatively short one. He enlisted in the Army on the 19th April 1916 at the age of 28 and requested that he be posted to the Grenadier Guards. Following his initial training he was posted to the 2nd Entrenching Battalion of the City of London Royal Fusiliers.
He embarked for service in France on the 29th August 1916, arriving in Le Harve the next day. After initial acclimatisation he joined his unit on the 18th September in the Combles sector of the Somme. At this point in the war the Battle of the Somme was well under way and fighting in the area was both bitter and heavy. On the 27th September, just 10 days after his arrival, Cecil was wounded by shellfire and received serious injuries to his left buttock and foot. His wound was serious enough for a decision to be made to remove his left leg. After a long process of recovery he was finally discharged from service in the Army on the 20th June 1917 and received his Silver Wound Badge on the 22nd July 1917. Cecil died from the effects of Pulmonary Tuberculosis on the 29th May 1919 and is buried at St.Nicholas churchyard, Stevenage.
Additional Information
*1 More correctly London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).
Cecil is buried in a non CWGC grave - probably a family grave - he appears to have a separate commemorative stone place on the grave, which reads:
In Loving Memory of
CECIL GEORGE GARDNER
OF THE 2ND LONDON ROYAL FUSILIERS
DIED MAY 29TH 1919. AGED 31 YEARS
"AT REST"
CECIL GEORGE GARDNER
OF THE 2ND LONDON ROYAL FUSILIERS
DIED MAY 29TH 1919. AGED 31 YEARS
"AT REST"
Acknowledgments
Paul Johnson
