31 Harold Henry Newman

Private: 1st/5th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. If only............!! How often has this been said when trying to locate the military records of Avening's heroes? This is particularly the case of Harry Newman. He was conscripted in 1916 and no Military Record Sheet now exists for him. However, we do have his entry on the Medal Rolls and here we find him in four different regiments!! Four separate Service Numbers but no dates for any of them!! He served in the Royal Berkshire Regiment, the 158th Battalion of the Labour Company, the 21st Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and lastly with the 5th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancs. It was with the latter that Harry died on Monday the 19th of August 1918. It is thought that he was a casualty of the artillery battle that was taking place at that time, preceding the second battle of Arras which started just four days later. He has no known grave. Harry was born in Park Terrace, Minchinhampton, and in 1901, lived with his parents in Bubblewell. By the age of 14 he was working at Longfords, preparing wool for the dyeing industry. His father was Thomas Newman, a plasterer, who was born in Minchinhampton, his mother being Mary Cherry who was born in Bedfordshire. Harry married Daisy Louisa Vincent (Riley Vincent’s great-aunt) on Wednesday the 17th of June 1908 in Avening Parish Church. He was 21, she 24. Here the tragedy continues.They had four children who at the time of Harry's death were 10, 8, 5 and 2 years old.The three eldest would have been at our village school, the family living on Tetbury Hill. It was not until September 1918 that the news of his death reached Daisy. During the intervening period, she would have been in ignorance of his plight although she must have suspected that there was a problem as she would have heard nothing from him. It would have been of scant assistance to them to receive his two medals (Victory and British) and his plaque, early in the 1920s. He is remembered with honour on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial in France. Happily, Daisy remarried in 1923 and it is hoped that, for her and her children, life took a turn for the better in their later years. They are survived by eight grandchildren who still live in the area.