Ernest William Harris

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Somerset Light Infantry

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 10865

Parents: Hannah and Henry Harris

Marital status: Married

Home address: Hopewell, Crown Lane, Kingswood, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Bootmaker

Date of birth: 28/05/1878

Place of birth: Bitton, Bristol

Date of death: 16/09/1916

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 38

Further information:

Ernest was born in Bitton, the son of a miner and the second eldest of nine children with six sisters and two brothers. In addition, Ernest had four older step-siblings by his father's first marriage. He married Ethel May Harris (date of marriage not known) and together they had a daughter Hannah to whom Ernest left all of his effects following his death.

Ernest previously fought in the Boer War then re-enlisted in 1914 and his battalion (the 6th) was mobilised to France that August, where it took part in various actions on the Western Front including Mons and Ypres. Ernest was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme (1st July - 18th November 1916) he was initially listed as missing and his body was never found. The initial attack was launched by 120,000 allied soldiers and of these 20,000 were killed and most of them in the first hour. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, where Ernest is remembered, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and who have no known grave.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
Kingswood Heritage Museum