Rank: Private TF/202518 Regiment: 1st/7th Bn., Middlesex Regiment Died: 3 May 1917 Age: 41 Parish: Otterton Local Memorials: Otterton Memorial Cross Other Memorial: Arras Memorial [Google] PDF Download: BERRY Ernest William
Ernest William Berry was born in Ottery St Mary on 6 December 1876. His father, Francis Berry, was listed in the 1881 census as an auctioneer and ale merchant, and after his father’s death his mother, Anne, ran the London Hotel at 6 Silver Street in Ottery St Mary, which is still there today. Ernest was the eldest of six children.
On Ernest’s service records he and his widowed mother are shown as resident at The King’s Arms in Otterton. His sister, Ethel, had married William Coate who was the publican at The King’s Arms. Ernest, a clerk, enlisted into the Somerset Light Infantry on 25 November 1915 a few days before his 39th birthday. His service number there was 24878.
By May 1916 he had been transferred into 1/7 Bn Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge’s Own). On 3 and 4 May 1917, the 1/7 was involved in the Third Battle of the Scarpe, near Arras in France.
Private Berry is remembered with honour on the memorial in Otterton, and on the Arras Memorial to the fallen from Commonwealth forces with no known grave.
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