Soldier Record

This is my Great-Grandfather who served in the 11th Battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. He was a Stretcher Bearer. Before the war he worked as a domestic servant. The 1901 census lists him as a 17 year old, working in a family house in Hothfield, Kent, owned by the family of a Robert Elliot. Ernest married my Great-Grandmother, Lillian Bean in 1909. They had twins Charles (Uncle Charlie) and Joan (my Granny) in 1915 and the family lived in Hadlow, near Tonbridge, Kent.

Ernest was given some rosary beads by a german soldier in gratitude for attending to his wounds

According to the inscription on the back, the photo was taken on 28th June, 1918 'Somewhere in France', possibly to commemorate Ernest and Lillian's wedding anniversary. At some point during the conflict, Ernest attended to wounds of a German Soldier who, in gratitude, gave him a small snuff tin containing some rosary beads and a page of prayer in French. This has survived- see my other entry for a photograph.

Ernest survived the war, but suffered the effects of gas in the trenches and was in poor health for the rest of his life. He took a job as a butler at the Falstaff Hotel in Canterbury, but died at the age of 44 of tuberculosis. He is buried in Littlebourne churchyard in Kent.