Soldier Record

I will be thinking about him on Remembrance Sunday.

David Cooper was one of my Great Grandmother's brother's. He served in the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers and saw action in the trenches in both Gallipoli and on the Western Front. He was killed in action on 26th October 1916 and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial as he has no known grave. He was 22 years old. I hope one day to visit the memorial; I'll be the first of the family to do so. I found out about him while researching my family tree when an uncle gave me the photograph of him in his uniform, the only information with it was a date on the back. I later worked out that it was the date that his mother, my Great Great Grandmother, received the telegram telling her that David had been killed. I also managed to find the official war diary of his Battalion, it just really brings it home to you how horrific it must have been in the trenches, but it's written in such a matter of fact way. This is the entry that was written on the day he was killed - "Switch Trench + Trones Wood - 26th Oct 1916 - Heavily shelled and whole Battalion (except Z company) compelled to evacuate trench & bivouac in Trones Wood. Casualties - Other ranks - 11 Killed, 2 Wounded." David was one of the 11 killed and I will be thinking about him on Remembrance Sunday.