Frederick Thomas Ford

Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial

Regiment: Wiltshire Regiment

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

Rank and number: Corporal 10306

Parents: Jonathan and Ann Ford

Home address: 153 Victoria Street, Pontycymmer, South Wales

Pre-war occupation: Soldier

Date of birth: 1888

Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol

Date of death: 09/04/1916

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. Not commemorated on a local memorial

Age: 27

Further information:

Frederick was born in Kingswood, the son of a coal miner, a middle child of seven with four sisters and two brothers. In 1901 after leaving school Frederick was working as an engine driver in the mine. In 1911 he was serving in the Mountain Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, as a gunner in India and his home address was in Weymouth.

Frederick's military experience would have meant that he would have gone into active service at the outbreak of war. His regiment (the 5th Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment) moved to Gallipoli in June 1915 where they fought in the Battle and Evacuation from Suvla. In January 1916 they moved to Egypt then on to Mesopotamia and fought in various battles in an attempt to relieve the Siege of Kut Al Imara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916). Frederick died during one of the battles - The Second Attack on Sanniyat. The Siege of Kut was a resounding defeat for the allies and resulted in 30,000 dead or wounded and 13,00 captured including 6 generals.

Frederick’s body was never found and he was presumed dead. The Basra Memorial where he is remembered commemorates more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known.

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/
Some information supplied by Kingswood Heritage Museum