Name
Ernest Taplin
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
23/07/1916
28
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
27090
Bedfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Pier/Face 2C
France
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 born on the 12th April 1887, the son of William & Delia Taplin of 5 Southsea Road, Stevenage. He worked as a Builders Labourer before joining the Army.
Wartime Service
His Battalion were held in reserve during the first three weeks of the Battle of the Somme and did not find themselves in Front Line positions until the 19th July, where they remained in a reserve position until the night of the 23rd July 1916. It was then that the Battalion were engaged in pushing out small-fortified posts from the trenches between High Wood and Delville Wood. Ernest was killed in the support trenches at Ginchy during a German artillery bombardment. He has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial, France.
Additional Information
www.stevenageatwar.com His younger brother, Nelson, was also killed in action in Belgium on the 12th October 1917.
Acknowledgments
Paul Johnson
