Herbert Short
Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial
Regiment: Royal Garrison Artillery
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Gunner 116461
Parents: Reuben and Elizabeth Short
Home address: High Street, Oldland Common, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Coal Merchant
Date of birth: 1897
Place of birth: Oldland Common, Bristol
Date of death: 17/08/1918
Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, France. Not commemorated on a local memorial.
Age: 21
Further information:
Herbert was born at Oldland Common, the son of a collier and a middle child of ten children with three brothers and six sisters. In 1911 he was working as an apprentice bootmaker, but gave his occupation as coal merchant on joining up four years later.
Herbert enlisted in November 1915 and was recorded as being 5' 8 ½ " tall. He served at home until he was mobilised to France in January 1917 with the British Expeditionary Force. Herbert served in France for four months before returning home with tonsillitis, after which he was discharged from hospital, back to duty. Herbert re-joined the 11th Siege Battery and died from wounds during one of the battles of The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918). The Offensive brought about the end of WW1 but at a cost of over a million allied casualties. Herbert was buried close to where he fell on the battlefield and was reburied at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, after the Armistice.
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