CF
Wilfrid John Harding
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 02/12/1885 |
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Place of birth: Battersea, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
General information
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Profession: Vicar |
Army information
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Country: England, United Kingdom |
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Force: British Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Chaplain 4th Class |
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Service number: 43130 |
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Enlistment date: 17/10/1914 |
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Units: — Army Chaplains' Department attd. Drake Bn. (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 31/10/1917 |
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Place of death: Wallemolen, Passendale, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 31 |
Memorial
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Tyne Cot Memorial Panel: 160 |
Distinctions and medals 3
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British War Medal Medal |
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Military Cross Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 2
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Chaplain 4th Class Harding Wilfrid John of the Army Chaplains' Department was administered to the Drake Battalion of the 189th Brigade of the 63th (Royal Naval) Division. He died on the 31st October 1917, while working as a stretcher-bearer during heavy fighting. He helped the stretcher-bearers in search of wounded men under heavy enemy fire and was subsequently killed by a shell just behind the line, while returning from no man’s land north of Wallemolen (Source Trench, Varlet Farm, Bray Farm, Berks Houses). For his actions he was awarded the Military Cross (London Gazette, 18 Jan. 1918) “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty; continual tending the wounded during four days’ operations and repeatedly crossing ‘No Man’s Land’under heavy fire to carry them in to the front line.”
Sources 4
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Drake Battalion (The National Archives, Kew (TNA) WO 95/3114/1). http://www.nmarchive.com/ Sources used |
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Jerrold D., The Royal Naval Division, (Uckfield, The Naval and Military Press, 2009). Sources used |
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McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018). Sources used |
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Reay S., The Half-shilling Curate, A personal account of war and faith 1914-1918 ( Warwick, Helion & Company Limited, 2018). Further reference |
More information 3
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/838428 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=5fa979ec-38c3-49ba-a715-22a0a937b49e |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1551171 |