Pte John Hunter
5 Pte John Hunter
20971 9th Essex Regiment Died: 08-Aug-18 Listed: Great Dunham Memorial Buried: Beacon Cemetery Sailly Laurette Born: South Creake Biography
John was born in 1892 in Carleton Rode, one of three sons and two daughters of Robert and Elizabeth. The family moved to Great Dunham not long after John was born and lived on North Street. At the time of the 1911 census John was recorded as a cowman on a farm. John joined the Norfolk Regiment, probably on the same day as his brother Edward, 30th January 1915. Shortly afterwards John was transferred to the 9th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. The battalion moved to France on the 25th May, 1915. They fought in many of the battles of the Great War, at Loos, on the Somme in 1916, at Arras and Cambrai in 1917. In 1918 they were involved in the battles trying to stop the great German advance in the Spring Offensive. We don’t know what happened to John in these battles, but we do know what happened on the day John died. He died on the first day of the Battle of Amiens, the day that was named “The Black Day of the German Army.” British and commonwealth forces were very successful on this day and in some places pushed the Germans back several miles. The Essex Regiment led the attack near a village called Morlancourt. Their attack was successful but not without casualties, one of whom was John. John is buried in Beacon Cemetery, Sailly Laurette. His brother Edward survived the war. Other relatives continued living in the village and at the time of writing his niece still lives on North Street. His medals, death penny and scroll are owned by a WW1 collector who lent them to the school for the children to see and photos of them are in the file. Biography written by Thomas Beacon Cemetery, approx view towards Morlancourt
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John Hunter, Dereham & Fakenham Times
Beacon Cemetery Sailly Laurette
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