Valentine Fletcher
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: Royal Engineers
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Sapper 42214
Parents: Frederick and Alice Fletcher
Home address: 5 Belle Vue Terrace, School Lane, Reformatory Road, Kingswood, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Engineer Iron Turner
Date of birth: 26/12/1896
Place of birth: Hanham, Bristol
Date of death: 21/08/1915
Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Helles Memorial, Turkey and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial.
Age: 18
Further information:
Valentine was born in Hanham the son and only child of an Engineer Iron Turner. Valentine followed his father into the same trade.
Valentine reached the age of 18 at the end of 1914 when he would have enlisted with the engineers and been sent to serve with his company (the 10th Signal Company) in the Mediterranean. Valentine was killed in action 8 months later in the Gallipoli Campaign (17 February 1915 – 9 January 1916) which was a victory for the Ottoman Empire and a costly defeat for the allies with the British Empire suffering 160,790 battle casualties including nearly 4000 deaths from disease and 90,000 sick who had to be evacuated. Valentine's body was never identified and the memorial where he is remembered is one of five memorials to the missing and serves the dual function of Commonwealth battle memorial for the whole Gallipoli campaign and place of commemoration for many of those Commonwealth servicemen who died there and have no known grave. This memorial alone lists 20,000 names.
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/