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On 4th May 1916 Henry was slightly wounded by a gunshot in the head and was admitted to
No. 4 Stationary Hospital, Arques. In time he made a full recovery and was able to rejoin
his regiment in France. Unfortunately, he was killed on 6th February 1918.
In Memoriam: Henry Glover is buried in Aix-Noulette Communal Cemetery extension,
France. As a resident of Canada and a railway employee, he has been remembered on the
Toronto Railway Employees Union Memorial, Old City Hall, Queen Street, Toronto,
Canada.
Driver Alfred William GROOMBRIDGE Army Service Corps,
1st Company, 32nd Division, Train
1896 - 10th August 1918
Born Southwark, London, Alfred’s widowed mother's home was Albany Cottages, High
Street, Foots Cray. Alfred enlisted at Woolwich on 15th December 1914, aged 19 years 5
months, giving his occupation as a nurseryman. He had one brother, Ernest, who in 1911
was a Grocer's assistant.
Alfred was assigned as a Driver in the Army Service Corps, Train Division, whose main job
was to off-load supplies from the many trains which arrived daily from the coastal ports.
The huge organisation needed every day in order to supply such a vast Army, spread out
over hundreds of miles, was extremely challenging, and a vast amount of manpower was
used in order to carry out the almost daily routine of ensuring there was sufficient supplies
of food and ammunition. In fact, only about one third of the Army operated at the Front, the
other two thirds was used as their support force.
Having survived the conflict for over four years, Alfred unfortunately died only weeks away
from the end of the war as the result of an air-attack on their base camp.
In Memoriam: Buried in the Fouques Court British Cemetery, Somme, France
Sgt. John Thomas GROOMBRIDGE East Surrey Regt, 7th Battalion
1882 - 13th October 1915
A former regular soldier, enlisting in the army about 1905, John had served for seven years,
spending some time in India. When war was declared, he had been demobbed for 14
months, but as an army reservist, he was immediately called up. With his previous
experience, he was first assigned as an instructor for all the hundreds of new recruits in
Kitchener's Army.
But by 1915, his Regiment was posted to France and landed at Le Havre on 27th
July. Unfortunately, this experienced soldier succumbed to an enemy bullet and was killed
on 13th October 1915. He left a widow, Eleanor, living in Windsor Road, Foots Cray, and
his parents Elias (a former coachman) and Hanna of Mill Cottages, to mourn his sad loss.
In Memoriam: Commemorated on the Loos Memorial, France
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