John Smith
Memorial: Bitton - St Mary's Church
Regiment: Royal Sussex Regiment
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private (service no. G/3612)
Parents: Edwin and Mary Ann (nee Reed) Smith
Marital status: Single
Home address: Unknown
Pre-war occupation: Coachman
Date of birth: 1891
Date of death: 27/09/1915
Buried/Commemorated at: No known grave. Commemorated on Loos Memorial France
Age: 24
Further information:
John was born in Stapleton (one of 8 children), and by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to Church Farm, Bitton where his father Edwin was a farm bailiff. On the 1911 Census, John was employed at Upton House, Upton Cheyney as a Coachman. Prior to the War, John had moved to Sussex, and on the outbreak of the war he enlisted at Haywards Heath in the Royal Sussex Regiment.
John's battalion left for France on 31 August 1915, and soon went to the front line where they took part in the Battle of Loos. John was reported missing after 25 September and was recorded as presumed killed on the 27th.
During or just after the war, John's parents and the children still at home had moved to Hanham and on the 1921 Census they lived in Tabernacle Road. After the Census, they moved to No.2 Footshill Road, Hanham.
John is commemorated on the Bitton War Memorial in St Mary's Churchyard and the Upton Cheyney (United Reform Church) War Memorial.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information is based by kind permission on the following source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 & 1911 Census etc), Volunteer Researcher John Davis.