Jesse George Pritchard
Memorial: Hill - St Michael's Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 10492
Parents: Thomas and Elizabeth Pritchard
Home address: The Hacket, Thornbury, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Farm Labourer
Date of birth: 1884
Place of birth: Thornbury, Bristol
Date of death: 05/11/1915
Buried/Commemorated at: Thornbury Cemetery (Church. 495.). Hill War Memorial.
Age: 31
Further information:
Bronze Tablet and Wooden Memorial Board.
Jesse George Pritchard was born in Thornbury, his birth registered in the June quarter of 1884. He was baptised at St Paul’s Church, The Hacket, on 11th January 1885. In each case his surname was given as Nelmes. This was because Jesse’s father, Thomas Pritchard had his birth registered as Nelmes, as he and Ann Nelmes, Jesse's mother, were not married at the time. Jesse had six brothers and sisters. At the time of the 1911 census the family were living at The Hacket. Thomas and Jesse were both farm labourers.
Jesse enlisted in the 7th Battalion, Glosters at the outbreak of war, using the surname Pritchard. The Regiment sailed from Avonmouth in June 1915. On 11th July the men disembarked from a troop ship at ‘Y’ Beach, Cape Helles, on the Gallipoli peninsular. Gallipoli was then part of the Ottoman Empire.
As volunteers in Kitchener’s new army, most of the men in this Battallion had only about ten months training. They were to face some hard fighting at the Battle of Chunuk Bair, one of the highest peaks on the peninsula. The Wellington Battalion (New Zealand and Australian Division) was tasked with taking the peak, reinforced by 7th Battalion Glosters and 8th Battalion, Welsh Regiment.
The 7th Glosters advanced before dawn at 4.15 am. Soon afterwards the two left platoons came under machine-gun fire and were practically wiped out. The Allies took the summit but Turkish counter attacks commenced at daybreak. Men fought desperately, firing their rifles until they were too hot to touch. Only shallow scrapes could be dug in the rocky ground and the peak was exposed to Turkish machine gun and sniper fire from nearby hills. The Battalion suffered terrible losses. During repeated attacks every single officer, company sergeant-major, or company quartermaster-sergeant was either killed or wounded, and by midday only small groups of men remained, commanded by junior non-commissioned officers or privates. The men fought on until sunset without any officers. Jesse was wounded and probably taken to a hospital ship. His comrades Sidney Jefferies and George Gallop were both Killed in Action.
After being treated for a short time, Jesse was sent back to the firing line where he contracted dysentery. He survived the journey back to England but died in Reading War Hospital on 5th November. His funeral took place in Thornbury. His coffin was covered with a Union Jack and many people lined the route to the Cemetery. At the time of Jesse’s death his brother Frederick was lying in Haslar Hospital, Gosport, Hampshire. He had been there since September having been wounded in the shoulder whilst serving in the Royal Marines. He had already spent 14 weeks in hospital in Egypt. He survived the war.
Although Jesse’s age is recorded as 29 in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records and on his headstone, his birth registration details suggest he was about 31 when he died.
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