15 Albert Harry Cuff

Private 7th Battalion Gloster Regiment Harry Cuff was born in Minchinhampton on Friday the 27th of May 1887. He was the youngest of five children born to Charles Cuff, a Minchinhampton wool mill carder, and Susannah Workman Phelps, born in Slimbridge around 1857. Unfortunately, Charles died in 1889, leaving Susannah with the five children, the eldest of which was Walter aged 13, down to Harry aged 1. To support the family, Susannah was a tailoress at the time of the 1891 census but she remarried in 1892, her second husband being James Humphries, a widower himself with three children from his first marriage. The 1901 census shows James was a stick factory worker and he and Susannah, by that time 44 years of age, were living at Hampton Fields with three of James' children and Harry and his elder brother, Frank. Harry was 13 by that time and was described as an errand boy. Harry married Amelia Maud Ayres on Saturday the 24th of October 1908. She was the daughter of Dick Ayres (see Roll of Honour No. 6). Harry and Amelia had four children, Charles born 1909, Harry (1911) who died in infancy, Arthur (1912) and Mary Elizabeth in 1914. Harry's military history is vague as his records were lost from bomb damage in WW2, but he must have been either a reservist or militia man (his father-in- law was a Gloucester Militiaman for 20 years and possibly encouraged him into it) as he entered France with the 1st Battalion Glosters, part of the British Expeditionary Force, on the 13th of August 1914, just 9 days after the Declaration of War. He fought in the Battle of Mons and was wounded around that time as by September he was recovering in the American Women's Hospital, Paignton (see http://americanwomenswarhospital.com/). He returned to the front (probably at Givenchy) only to be wounded again in February 1915. He may well have been on recovery leave when he attended his father-in-law's military funeral at Avening in July of that year. Having recovered, he was transferred to the 7th Battalion Glosters and served at Gallipoli and was evacuated from there in January 1916 and sent to Mesopotamia along with the remainder of the battalion. It was here that he died of disease on Tuesday the 29th of August 1916. He was 29 years old and left his wife with their two sons (aged 7 and 4) and a 2-year old daughter. Harry was posthumously awarded the Victory Medal, the British Medal and the 1914 Star. We have a copy of his death certificate. We are indebted to his granddaughter for her assistance with this research.