Berry

Frederick Berry (1854-), his wife Bessie and their 4 children lived in Acton, London before moving to Sawley in the mid-1890s. Frederick was from London, but Bessie had been born in Overseal, near Swadlincote.  In Sawley they lived at 20 Wilsthorpe Road and had 2 more daughters.  The children were:

  • Herbert Frederick (1885-) worked as a lacemaker before emigrating to the USA in 1905.
  • Percy Charles (1887-1915) became a lacemaker and served in the church choir (perhaps at St Mary’s as they lived close by). During the Great War he joined 7th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders.  After basic training in Scotland, they completed training in Southern England before moving to France in May 1915.  On 25th September the battalion attacked a German strongpoint, the infamous Hohenzollern Redoubt, on the first day of the Battle of Loos.  By now, Percy had been promoted to Lance Corporal.   It was the first major battle for New (Kitchener’s) Army units.  The attack started at dawn, using smoke and chlorine poison gas as cover, but there wasn’t enough artillery to cut all the barbed wire and the battalion lost many men that day, including L/Cpl Berry.  He has no known grave but is listed on the Loos Memorial at Dud Corner Cemetery, as well as the Sawley war memorial.
  • Winifred Annie (1887-1918) stayed at home until she died at the age of 31.
  • Gladys (1888-1946) married Charles Arnold, a pharmacist from Long Eaton. They lived at the chemist shop at 465 Tamworth Road, New Sawley (near Mikado Road).
  • Harold (1892-1916) also became a lacemaker and sang in the church choir, like his brother Percy. During the Great War he also joined the 7th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders.   After the Battle of Loos (in which Percy died) their next major engagement was the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.  The battalion was in the southern part of the battle and made good progress in the first two days but were then held back by German resistance and the mud after heavy rain.  Harold (by now a corporal) was wounded during these battles and taken to a military hospital in Rouen, where he died of wounds on 26 Jul 1916.
  • Doris Bessie (1898-) married Roland Percy Knappitt and moved to Orpington, Kent.
  • Eva Ballingarth (1908-1970) married Percy Booth, an insurance agent from Long Eaton. They moved from Wilsthorpe Lane to Hillside Drive.
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