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05/06/1882 - 04/10/1917

Place of birth: Mottingham, Kent
Last known address in Bromley: 36 Waldo Road

Military information

Regiment/Service: Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Battalion/Ship: 1st Bn
Rank: Private
Number: G/566

Family information

Parents: Samuel & Jane Gillard (nee Copp)
Parents' occupation: Labourer
Siblings: William (Copp), Gertrude, Samuel George, Elizabeth Jane (d), Alice, Charles John (d)
Wife: Emily Martha Goodhew
Marriage date: 19-10-1901
Children: Ernest Arthur, Charles William (d), Stanley Hector James, Eva Emily, William Henry (d), Martha Lilian

Census information

1891
Address: 2 Albert Road, Mottingham
1901
Address: 6 Queen's Road, Chislehurst
Occupation: General labourer
1911
Address: 26 Waldo Road
Occupation: General labourer

Extra details

Ernest was the second youngest of Samuel and Jane Gillard's six children, Jane's son William was born before she married Samuel.Ernest was baptised at St John the Baptist, Eltham on 5th August 1883. Prior to enlisting he was employed by Bromley Borough Council.

Ernest enlisted in the Royal West Kents on 31st August 1914 along with several other council employees. He was recorded as 5ft 7 inches tall, weighting 148lbs, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion. He was sent to the Front on 1st June 1915. During the Battle of Loos, on 9th October, he was shot, causing a compound fracture to his left humerus. He returned to England on the 18th aboard the Hospital Ship St Andrew then spent two months at Beaufort Hospital, Bristol. From 14th March to 10th August 1916 Ernest was at the Eastern Command Depot, Shoreham. He was sent back to the Front on 30th August.

On the day he was due home on leave Ernest was reported missing.