Herbert Claude Bracey

Memorial: Downend - Christ Church

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 266780 (previously 5025)

Parents: Evan and Emma Bracey

Marital status: Married

Home address: Fern House, Pendennis Road, Staple Hill, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Plumber

Date of birth: 20/04/1895

Place of birth: Mangotsfield, Bristol

Date of death: 21/10/1917

Buried/Commemorated at: No known grave but Commemorated on Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium and Staple Hill Memorial

Age: 22

Further information:

Herbert was born in Mangotsfield and lived in Bristol. He was one of 12 children and the son of a bricklayer. Herbert married Florence Edna Haycock in May of 1916 and together they had a son Harold who was aged 12 months when Herbert died. Recorded as Bert on the 1901 and 1911 Census

Herbert enrolled in Bristol and served with the 14th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment and was Killed in Action in France and Flanders on 21 October 1917. Herbert's regiment was formed in December of 1914 in Chiseldon near Swindon. It was mobilised to France in 1916 and Herbert would have fought at the Bazentin Ridge and 2 other locations during the Battle of the Somme, in July and August of 1916 before heading south to fight on the Hindenburg Line in March of 1917. The 14th Battalion then headed North to Belgium and the Houlthurst Forest and Herbert was killed during the third battle of Ypres

Two of Herbert's brothers Gilbert Graham and Evan were both Killed in Action 7 months before him and within 11 days of each other. Herbert and his brother Evan Bracey are also commemorated on the Staple Hill Methodist Church Memorial - both were baptised in Downend Christ Church on the same day

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

Forces War Records and Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 and 1911 Census etc), researcher John Davis
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/