Name
Hedley John D Brooks
1897
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
04/09/1916
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
4434
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
KNIGHTSBRIDGE CEMETERY, MESNIL-MARTINSART
D. 23.
France
Headstone Inscription
PEACE PERFECT PEACE WITH LOVED ONES FAR AWAY IN JESUS' KEEPING
UK & Other Memorials
Berkhamsted Town Memorial, St Peter’s Church Plaque, Berkhamsted, All Saints Church Memorial, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Hedley John D Brooks was born in 1897 in Hungerford, Berkshire, the son of William Thomas Brooks and Alice Brooks.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at 47 Fernlea Road, Harwich St Nicholas, Essex where his father was working as a grocer's manager. By 1911 they had moved to 10, Shrublands Avenue, Berkhamsted, Herts where his father was again a grocer's manager. Hedley was aged 14 and at school.
Wartime Service
Hedley enlisted in Hertford and joined the Hertfordshire Regiment.
He was killed in action on 4 September 1916, aged 20, following an attack on the enemy trenches north of the Ancre the previous day. The attack failed and the Germans then shelled them with gas. Hedley is buried in Knightsbridge Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart, France.
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £7 and pay owing of £3 11s 7d. His mother received a pension of 5 shillings a week.
Mr N T Brooks, 10 Shrublands Avenue, Berkhamsted, ordered his headstone inscription: "PEACE PERFECT PEACE WITH LOVED ONES FAR AWAY IN JESUS' KEEPING".
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jo Bayley, Jonty Wild
