BRAITHWAITE, Ernest

Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Somme FranceCredit: Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Second Lieutenant
14th Battalion
Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Ernest was born 1895 in Leeds, Yorkshire to Charles Frederick & Elizabeth Davies (PASSMORE) BRAITHWAITE. In 1901 the family were living in Wormald Street, Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

Ernest, aged 21, was reported Killed in Action on the 22nd of July 1917 at The Somme in France & originally buried close to where he fell, his temporary grave marked with a cross. Ernest was later exhumed & buried in the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, The Somme in France beneath a Commission Headstone alongside 5,572 of his First World War comrades, 3,798 of whom remain unidentified. It is from this cemetery, on the 6th of November 2004, that an unknown New Zealand soldier was exhumed, sent home, & now rests in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Wellington.

Ernest is also remembered on the County & Newport Borough War Memorials. Ernest’s only connection to Newport appears to be that his father was, at one time, a Wesleyan Minister here on the Island.

CWGC Casualty Record

Cemetery

Sons & Daughters Commemorated Far From Home

Those from the Newport & Carisbrooke area who are buried or commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission outside of the area, both in the UK and in other countries.

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The image is of the Tyne Cot Military Cemetery & Memorial in Belgium.