Frederick Charles Hurn
Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 201207
Parents: Charles and Elizabeth Hurn
Marital status: Married
Home address: 31 St Mary Street, Thornbury, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Sawyer
Date of birth: 1886
Place of birth: Thornbury, Bristol
Date of death: 17/07/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: Serre Road Cemetery No. 2 (Ref. XX. B. 1.); Thornbury United Reformed Church Memorial Tablet
Age: 30
Further information:
Bronze Tablet and Wooden Memorial Board
Frederick Charles Hurn, known sometimes as Fred but more often as Toby, was one of the three surviving children of eight born to labourer and gardener Charles Hurn and his wife Elizabeth, the other five dying in infancy. Toby (Fredrick Charles Hurn) baptised at St Mary’s Church on 13th January 1886. From 1905 the family lived at 31, St Mary Street
Toby (Fredrick Charles Hurn) married Rosina Alice Cole in the Parish Church of Kingswood, near Wotton under Edge, on 23rd November 1912. He gave his occupation as carter while Rosina was a silk worker. In 1913, when their daughter Doris Elizabeth was baptised, they were living in Horseshoe Lane, Thornbury, and Toby was employed as a sawyer. They had another daughter, Amelia R born in 1914
Toby (Fredrick Charles Hurn) enlisted in Bristol. According to a newspaper article he was in the Somerset Light Infantry (3906) when he was reported missing but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as serving with the 1st/4th Battalion (City of Bristol) Battalion in France at this time. In July 1916 the 1st/4th Battalion saw action at the First Battle of the Somme. On 17th July and the following days, during the Battle of Albert, the Battalion, supported by 7th Worcesters, took part in attacks against the heavily defended German positions in front of Ovillers, west of Pozières. Extracts from the war diary tell us what happened. On 16th July at 10 p.m. Companies moved into position for the planned assault. 2nd Lt. C.F. Holland, with six men, crossed no-man's land to check the enemy wire and returned at 11.30 p.m. to report that the enemy wire was cut. The plan was to attack at 2 a.m. on the 17th after a ten minute bombardment. The assault was a success and the Companies occupied their objectives. On the 18th the Battalion advanced and took the second line of German trenches. Another advance on the 19th was met by heavy German machine-gun fire, but Ovillers had been captured. The 1st/4th withdrew to support lines at Donnet Post
Toby (Fredrick Charles Hurn) was Killed in Action on the 17th. From 16th to 20th July the battalion lost 37 men killed and 211 wounded, with 27 missing
The Gazette of 9th September 1916 reported Toby as ‘missing’ but also said that he had recently been recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal ‘for rescuing a comrade under heavy fire’. There is no record of it being awarded
In the spring of 1917, the battlefields of the Somme were cleared by V Corps. Serre Road Cemetery No.2 was begun in May and by the end of the war contained approximately 475 graves. It was enlarged after the armistice by the addition of further graves from smaller cemeteries in the surrounding area. Toby was buried here in 1928, identified by his military identity disc
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Thornbury Roots Website. Thornbury and District Museum Research Group. Forces War Records and the CWGC