Henry Tanner

Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial

Regiment: Royal Welsh Fusiliers

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

Rank and number: Gunner 9179

Parents: Albert and Augusta Minnie Tanner

Marital status: Married

Home address: Home Address: Seymour Road, Staple Hill, Bristol Lived: Downend, Bristol.

Pre-war occupation: Soldier

Date of birth: 26/09/1889

Place of birth: Mangotsfield, Bristol

Date of death: 26/07/1917

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Fins New British Cemetery, Sorel-Le-Grand, Somme, France. Not commemorated on a local memorial.

Age: 29

Further information:

Henry was born, Harold Fitzgerald Herbert Tanner in Mangotsfield in 1889. He was the son of a general labourer/plumber and the eldest child of four children with two brothers and a sister. His mother worked in the laundry.

In 1906, at the age of 17, Harold enlisted in the 19th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers as Henry and gave his occupation as a glass blower and his year of birth as 1887. At the time of his enlistment, Henry was described as 5' 5 ¼ " tall and weighing 8st 12lb with black hair grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He served in the Army in both peacetime and wartime and in 1911 he was serving in India.

After the outbreak of war, Henry was posted to France with the British Expeditionary Force in January 1915 and served there until September 1915 when he was wounded and returned home. He married Florence Vowles in September 1915 and Albert Reginald was born 3 months later - Albert was just eighteen months old when Henry died. In September 1916, Henry was posted to France for a second time where he fought in the Battles of the Somme and was once again wounded and awarded a wound stripe. Henry was killed in action on the Somme, the following year.

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