No.G/13266, Private, Harry WOOLLARD
Aged 20
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Harry Woollard was born in Kirtling in 1896 (Newmarket Q4-1896 3B:508), son of William Saunders and Annie WOOLLARD, (née SIMPKIN).The baptismal
transcription has no dates.
1901 census...Aged 4, he was at the Cottage, Mill End, Kirtling, with his widowed mother Annie [30], brothers William P.[8] and James [2] and sister Alice [6]. They were all born in Kirtling. Thanks to Vicki Atkinson we know that his father, William Saunders Woollard died in South Africa on 26 Dec 1900 aged 35 of Enteric Fever at Gauteng, Pretoria serving with the 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment South Africa Division. see here . 1911 census...Aged 14, a farm labourer, he was at The Green, Kirtling with his mother, brother William (farm labourer) and James and sister Alice. His mother Annie had lost one child. |
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He enlisted in Newmarket. The Battalion had been detailed to attack the Hindenburg line south of the River Sensee, from Hamlincourt. Two tanks were to have accompanied them but they broke down before reaching them. They attacked either side of the Croisilles - Fontaine road. They sustained heavy casualties due to un-cut wire and occasional shortage of bombs and eventually had to retire. The reasons given were that 98th Brigade failed to join up, the tanks never arrived, wire between the two German lines was uncut (our barrage had moved too far ahead) and the difficulty in keeping them supplied with ammunition. The war diary gave 29 killed, 106 wounded and 308 missing. Only one officer got back uninjured. After the event CWGC records that 118 were killed, of which only 6 have identified graves |
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