Biography of Serjeant Charles Herbert Cooper (1076)
10th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 22nd March 1918

Soldier

  • Name: Charles Herbert Cooper
  • Date of birth: 1892
  • Place of Birth: Edenham, Lincolnshire, England
  • Date of Birth Registration: October – December 1892
  • Place of Birth Registration: Bourne, Lincolnshire, England

Father

  • Name: James William Cooper
  • DOB: 1857
  • Place of Birth: Edenham, Lincolnshire, England
  • Occupation: Woodman in Woods

Mother

  • Name: Elizabeth Eleanor Crowson
  • DOB: 1865
  • Place Of Birth: Blatherwycke, Northamptonshire, England
  • Marriage: 17th June 1886 St Marylebone Westminster, England

Siblings: (Name), (DOB), (POB)

  • Elsie Mary Cooper, 1888, Edenham
  • William Sydney Cooper, 1891, Edenham
  • Charles Herbert Cooper, 1892, Edenham
  • Margaret Alice Cooper, 1897, Edenham
  • Eleanor Marion Cooper, 1904, Edenham
  • George Ronald Cooper, 1906, Edenham
  • Frederick Gordon Cooper, 1910, Edenham
  • Georgiana Cooper, 1911, Edenham (Died 1911)
Census

  • 1901: Charles is living with his parents in the Main Road, Edenham, Lincolnshire
  • 1911: Charles is living with his parents in Edenham, Lincolnshire. The census gives him an age of 18 and listed as a gamekeeper.
Relatives in services

  • None found
Wife

  • Name: Frances Mildred Reed
  • Date of birth: 6th December 1892
  • Place of Birth: Towcester, Northamptonshire, England
Marriage

  • Date of Marriage: 20 October 1917
  • Place of Marriage: Edenham Church, Edenham, Lincolnshire
Wife’s parents

  • Father: Montague Reed
  • Mother: Ellen Matilda Bliss

Newspaper Mentions

  • Sheffield Daily Telegraph Tuesday 12th September 1916
    WOUNDED
    LINCOLNS
    Cooper (1076), C.H. (Bourne)

 

  • The Times Tuesday September 12th 1916
    WOUNDED
    LINCOLN R.
    Cooper, 1076 C. H.

 

  • War Casualty List October 2nd 1917
    WOUNDED
    LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT
    Cooper 1076 L-Sjt. C. H. (Edenham)

Military Records

Attestation Papers

  • Available
Soldier’s Died In The Great War

  • These records show that Serjeant Charles Herbert Cooper, 1076, 10th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment was killed in action on 22nd March 1918 in the Western European Theatre in France and Flanders.

Pension Records

  • Available

Effects Left To

  • Widow Frances M

Medals

  • The British Medal
  • The Victory Medal

Memorials

 

  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
  • In memory of Serjeant Charles Herbert Cooper, 1076, 10th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment who died on 22nd March 1918 age 25.
  • Son of William and Eleanor Cooper; husband of Frances Mildred Cooper, of Edenham, Bourne
  • Remembered with honour, Arras Memorial
  • Bay 3 and 4.

     

    © Picture taken by South Lincolnshire War Memorials

    © Picture taken by South Lincolnshire War Memorials

    Military Service Timeline

    Born in Edenham in 1892, between the months of October and December, Charles was the son of James William Cooper, a Woodman from Edenham, and Elizabeth Eleanor (nee Crowson) from Blatherwycke, Northamptonshire. James and Elizabeth were married in 1886 at St Marylebone, Westminster, London. They went on to have seven children all born in Edenham:
    Elsie Mary Cooper, 1888, Edenham
    William Sydney Cooper, 1891, Edenham
    Charles Herbert Cooper, 1892, Edenham
    Margaret Alice Cooper, 1897, Edenham
    Eleanor Marion Cooper, 1904, Edenham
    George Ronald Cooper, 1906, Edenham
    Frederick Gordon Cooper, 1910, Edenham
    Georgiana Cooper, 1911, Edenham (Died 1911)
     
    Charles was working as a gamekeeper when he joined the war, enlisting on October 27th 1914 at Grimsby.
    He was given the regimental number 1077 and had joined the 10th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, know as the Grimsby Chums this was a pals Battalion raised by in September 1914 by the Mayor and Town of Grimsby.
     
    As part fo the Battalion Charles would have initially trained at Brocklesby Camp and then when being assigned to the 101st Brigade of the 34th Division, they moved to Ripon in June 1915. They would remain at Ripon until moving to Sutton Veny in Wiltshire for their final training and mobilisation.
    The Battalion entered were initially trained to be deployed to Egypt but this order was changed on the 26th December and France was the new destination.
     
    On the 9th January the Battalion was finally deployed and arrived in France, although it would be another month before they saw their first trenches near Erquinghem on the outskirts of Armentiers. On the 2nd February A+B Companies went into the trenches for 2 days for instruction, A company were attached to the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters and B Company the 1st Battalion East Lancashire regiment. B Company had the Battalion’s first man wounded during his tour. They changed over and C and D companies started their instruction being attached to the 1st Worcesters and 1st Northants respectively. This time it was C company that had one man wounded.
     
    Lord Kitchener inspected the 101st Brigade at Steenbecque on the 11th February, the Battalion marching their from their billets in Morbecque.
     
    The first Battalion deaths would come on their first official tour of the trenches, in the Bois Grenier sector, on the 29th February 1916 where the diary reports that 4 men were killed including 1 N.C.O and 5 men wounded.
     
    Charles was committed to the war effort, resulting in him rising through the ranks. He was appointed Lance Corporal May 1917, to soon become a Lance Serjeant in July 1917. Just one month before his death, he was awarded the rank of Sergeant.
     
    A number of Charles’ medical records exist, which inform us that he worked as a game keeper before joining the war. However, the documents that are accessible remain in a bad state, making it challenging to understand his entire war experience. Nevertheless, we are still able to piece some information together.
     
    It appears that he had a quiet first few years of the war. The first date entered was 10.08.16 which simply stated he was wounded. Five days later, an entry claims he was shell shocked and concussed. Throughout the latter end of the year, he received other injuries which are unclear to decipher.
     
    In September 1917, he returned to England for medical reasons that are unclear, yet both the words ‘’face’’ and ‘’leg’’ are written on the form. He stayed at 2nd Western General Hospital, Manchester from 6.9.17- 14.10.17.
     
    During the week between moving hospitals, 16.10.17-25.10.17, Charles was awarded ‘’furlough’’- a term for extended leave. This may have been the last time Charles visited home.
     
    Charles was to enter the war a single man, although during this furlough week we was to marry Frances Mildred Reed (b.6.12.1892) who also lived in the village but was originally from Paulerspury, Northamptonshire. She was the daughter of Montague and Ellen Matilda Reed (Nee Bliss).
    The couple were married on October 20th 1917 at Edenham Parish Church.
     
    A week later (25.10.17) Charles was recorded to have admitted to Ripon Hospital. He stayed there for 43 days until 7.12.17. again we are not exactly sure of his wounds or the circumstances.
     
    Eventually on February 9th 1918, Charles re-joined his battalion, 10th Lincs in the field.
     
    Although Charles’ precise whereabouts are unknown following his return to the frontline, it is probable that he was involved in pushing the enemy back from their final attempt to break the Western Front, better known as the Spring Offensive of 1918. On his records, he was only declared missing on April 2nd 1918. At an unknown date, he was later declared to have been killed on the day of his disappearance, March 22nd 1918.
     
    Charles’ pension and war medals were given to his wife Frances, who was still living in Edenham in 1919.
     
    Charles is commemorated on the Arras Memorial at Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery, Arras. As he is commemorated by name on the walls of the Memorial rather than with an identified headstone it is either that his body was not recovered from No Man’s Land, or that he was buried but could not be named so therefore lies under an unidentified headstone.
     
    Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
    In memory of Serjeant Charles Herbert Cooper, 1076, 10th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment who died on 22nd March 1918 age 25. Son of William and Eleanor Cooper; husband of Frances Mildred Cooper, of Edenham, Bourne. Remembered with honour, Arras Memorial, Bay 3 and 4.
     
    Charles is also remembered in Edenham on Roll of Honour in Edenham St Michael and all Angels Church as well as the Bourne War Memorial in the Memorial Gardens.
    He is also remembered on a page dedicated to his memory on our own website.
     
    https://southlincolnshirewarmemorials.org.uk/our-villages/edenham/charles-herbert-cooper/
     
    Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery was created in March 1916, and was used to bury those who had died from wounds from local medical and dressing points behind Allied lines. The cemetery was used until November 1918, but was enlarged after the Armistice when smaller cemeteries were merged with this larger one. Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery is the resting place for over 2,650 Commonwealth soldiers, 10 of which are unidentified.
     
    Surrounding the cemetery is the Arras Memorial, which commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand. These men died in the Arras area between Spring 1916 to 7 August 1918 and who have no known grave, just like that of Charles Herbert Cooper. Both the cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, a key architect involved in the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
     
    Lutyens also designed the Arras Flying Services Memorial at this site, with the assistance of Sit William Reid Dick. This Memorial commemorates nearly 1,000 airmen of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps, and the Royal Air Force who were killed on the entire Western Front and who have no known grave. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 31 July 1932.

    Sources

    • WW1 Soldier’s Records (www.ancestry.co.uk)
    • British Newspaper Archive.
    • Fold 3
    • Find My Past
    • Genealogist
    • Forces War Records
    • British Army Service Numbers
    • War Gratuity Calculator
    • Commonwealth War Graves Commission
    • National Archives – Battalion War Diaries
    • General Registry Office