Rfn
Charles Robert Locker

Information about birth

Date of birth:
25/03/1885
Place of birth:
Deptford, Kent, England, United Kingdom

General information

Profession:
Grocer's assistant

Army information

Country:
England, United Kingdom
Force:
British Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Rifleman
Service number:
R/27317
Enlistment date:
01/06/1916
Enlistment place:
Lewisham, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Units:
 —  King's Royal Rifle Corps, 8th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
24/08/1917
Place of death:
Clapham Junction, Zonnebeke, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
32

Memorial

Tyne Cot Memorial
Panel: 118

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 3

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place
#3 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Rifleman Charles Robert Locker served with the 8th Battalion Kings Royals Rifle Corps (41st Brigade, 14th (Light) Division). He was killed in action on 24 August 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele. The 32-year-old grocery assistant, from Deptford, Kent, was the husband of Alice Mary Seager and the father of two young daughters.

On 23 August 1917 part of the 8th Battalion KRRC was relieved and marched to the hinterland, the remainder, one Company and a half, the HQ and Communications Sections were positioned adjacent Clapham Junction in a tunnel beneath the Menin Road.

On the night of the 23rd and 24th August 1917, units of the 42nd Brigade were ordered to relieve the 8th KRRC, but the relief was interrupted by a German attack. Therefore one and a half Company, remained in line, occupying a defensive flank, running from Inverness Copse to Stirling Castle.

Several heavy counter-attacks unfolded throughout the day. At one time units in Inverness Copse were very nearly driven out of their positions. Things looked critical and the 41st Brigade, which was in reserve, was ordered up to the frontline. By the end of the day the Germans had recaptured a significant part of the ground that was won in the previous days.

The 8th KRRC had suffered heavy casualties on the 24th of August 1917, mainly due to German shell fire. About one hundred men were either killed or wounded. Rifleman Charles Robert Locker was one of them. Robert’s captain later wrote to his family that Robert was instantly killed by a shell explosion. Robert has no known grave and is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Files 1

Sources 6

"Passchendaele The Day-By-Day Account", McCarthy C., Uniform 2018, page 64
Sources used
"The Anals of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, Volume V, The Great War"; Hare S., John Murray, 1932, page 230 - 234
Sources used
Ancestry
https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1543&h=509162&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=FhQ1&_phstart=successSource
Further reference
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/833042/locker,-charles-robert/
Sources used
The Long Long Trail
Sources used
War Diary
http://www.nmarchive.com/view-diary/dickiebusch/1895-1596/1013561
Further reference