Name
Ernest William Tooley
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
25/11/1916
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
33141
Leicestershire Regiment
8th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LONGUENESSE (ST. OMER) SOUVENIR CEMETERY
IV.A.79.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Stevenage Old Town Memorial,
St Nicholas' Church Memorial, Stevenage Old Town,
Holy Trinity Church Memorial Roll of Honour, Stevenage Old Town
Pre War
Ernest was the son of Henry & Harriett Tooley who lived at 16 Alleynes Road, Stevenage. His father was a local tailor and before joining the Army Ernest had been employed by Leggetts fishmongers and by the Glazley Coach Works as a Coach Painter.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in the Army on the 26th February 1916 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, and initially served with the Bedfordshire Regiment. Following the completion of his training he was posted to France on the 3rd November 1916 and on arrival he was transferred to the Leicestershire Regiment. He joined the 8th Battalion on the 16th November and a few days later.
On the 23rd, the Battalion were in positions in the Hohenzollern sector of the Western Front. They were heavily bombarded for nearly four hours by German trench mortars and it is believed that it was during this bombardment that Ernest was wounded. He was taken to No.7 General Hospital at St. Omer where he died two days later and is buried in the Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, France.
Additional Information
Ernest is also commemorated on the family grave in Stevenage (St. Nicholas) Churchyard. His part of the inscription reads:
ALSO HER [Harriet A. Tooley] SON PTE. E. W. TOOLEY. LEIC. REGT. DIED OF WOUNDS IN FRANCE, NOV. 26TH 1917 AGED 21 YEARS.
Acknowledgments
Paul Johnson
