yeovil at War
Harold Glass
Died from wounds sustained during the Final Advance in Flanders
Harold
Glass was born
in Yeovil in
1899, the son of
railway driver
William James
Glass
(1865-1946) and
Louisa née
Bartlett
(1867-1940).
William and
Louisa had eight
known children
all born in
Yeovil; Bertie
(b1886), Alfred
(b1890), Ellen
(b1892), William
(b1893), Arthur
(b1895), Ethel
(b1896),
Gertrude (b1897)
and Harold.
These were
followed by a
further five
known children,
all born in
Twickenham;
Sidney (b1901),
Lenard (b1903),
Reginald
(b1904), Claude
(b1906) and
Percival
(b1907). In all
William and
Louisa had a
total of
eighteen
children (five
died in
childhood).
The family were not long in Yeovil after the birth of Harold, moving to Twickenham, Middlesex, before Harold was two years old. He was educated at Teddington Council School.
Sadly nothing else is known of Harold's early life but he enlisted at Teddington, probably when he turned eighteen. He initially joined the East Surry Regiment, his Service Number being 35352, but was soon transferred to the 10th (Service) Battalion (Kent County), Queen's Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment, his new Service Number being G/20744. Harold's new battalion, formed in May 1915, had been in France since May 1916 as part of 123rd Brigade in 41st Division. In November 1917 the Battalion moved to Italy with the Division but returned to France in March 1918 when, I'm guessing, Harold joined them.
Harold and his Battalion played a part in a number of key actions during 1918 including the Battle of St Quentin, the Battle of Bapaume, the Battle of Arras, the Battles of the Lys, the Advance in Flanders, the Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Courtrai and the action of Ooteghem. In late October 1918, during the Allied Final Advance in Flanders, Harold was wounded in action. He died from his wounds on 27 October 1918 in the No 3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station. He was just 18 years old.
Harold Glass was buried at Kezelberg Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave I.A.9. His name is recorded on the Teddington War Memorial, Teddington Council School War Memorial and St Michael's church, Fullwell, War Memorial. His name was added to the War Memorial in the Borough in 2018.
gallery
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission certificate in memory of Harold Glass.
Harold's grave in Kezelberg Military Cemetery.
