Robert Elton Perkins

Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial

Regiment: Royal Warwickshire Regiment

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

Rank and number: Private 267009

Parents: William James and Louisa Perkins

Marital status: Married

Home address: Home Address: The Lighthouse, Sheppardine, Thornbury, Bristol Lived: Easton Hill Road, Crossways, Thornbury, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Baker working for Thomas English

Date of birth: 01/09/1894

Place of birth: Shepperdine, Thornbury, Bristol

Date of death: 13/11/1918

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Thornbury Cemetery. Not commemorated on a local memorial

Age: 24

Further information:

Robert was born at Shepperdine, the son of a lighthouse keeper and a middle child of ten children with five sisters and four brothers. Robert married Rose Maud Beatrice Moreman in 1914 and his older brother Jesse was best man. His younger brother William died in the service of his country, the year before Robert.

Robert was called up in November 1915 and enlisted in the 1st/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In March 1916 he applied for exemption from Military Service on the grounds that he was needed at the bakery but his application was rejected. At the time of his enlistment, he was described as 5'7 ½ " tall and weighing 8st 9lb with light brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. In August 1916 he was mobilised to France with his battalion and served with the British Expeditionary Force for three months until he was injured in his left hand whilst in the trenches. He was sent to hospital at Boulogne where he was diagnosed with trench fever and a severe wound that ‘might easily have been caused by a fragment of shell.’ He was sent back home and his left forearm was amputated then fitted with a prosthesis but his war service was over and he was discharged from the Army in June 1917. An enquiry followed the incident of the wounding as Robert sustained his injury while visiting the latrines and an unidentified gunshot had apparently been heard at the same time. Robert died at home from influenza, just two days after the Armistice and was buried at Thornbury Cemetery with full military honours.

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/
http://www.thornburyroots.co.uk/sms/31-sms-occupants/