|
7788 ‘A’ Company, 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
Harry Wallace was born in Sudbury around 1890, one of five surviving children of James and Eliza Wallace (née Newman). His father was a mat maker and the family lived in Walnuttree Lane. By 1901 his father had died and the family was living in Byford’s Yard before later moving to 63 Cross Street where his widowed mother worked at home preparing yarn for the local silk mills.
Harry had first tried to join 3rd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment in February 1906 (7121) and was described as 5ft 4¼ ins in height with blue eyes, dark brown hair and a fresh complexion but he was recorded as having a bad physique and medically unfit. However by 1914 he was a regular soldier, his battalion embarked onboard SS Mount Temple at Southampton and landed at Le Havre on 18 January 1915; by 4 February the battalion, which formed part of 84th Brigade, 28th Division was entrenched between the Ypres-Comines Canal and Hill 60 where they came under fire almost immediately.
Harry served alongside other Sudbury men including Joseph Allen, Sidney Binks, William Brown, Arthur Crick, Arthur French, Alfred Golding, Harry Lorkings and Bert Malyon who would all lose their lives between February and May 1915.
Harry died aged 24 on 13 February 1915 and lies buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. A Cross of Remembrance was laid by the grave in April 2007. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Harry’s cousin Albert Percy Newman is also remembered on the Sudbury War Memorial
Wimereux was an important hospital base and three other Sudbury men are also buried in this cemetery. They are buried not far from Lt. Colonel John McCrae who wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’ and died in 1918.
Back to Roll of Honour
|
