28988 PRIVATE HENRY THOMAS PETTITT
4TH BATTALION GRENADIER GUARDS
DIED OF WOUNDS
7TH OCTOBER 1917
AGE 31 YEARS
Christened Henry Thomas Pettitt, although always known as Harry, he was born the fourth son of Charles, a bricklayer’s labourer, and his wife Louisa (née Wagg) during the fourth quarter of 1886. From virtually the time of their marriage until Louisa passed away in 1944 the family home was in Wissett Road, Halesworth. It would have been from there that Harry attended the town’s boys’ school where, after completing his education in 1900, he had found work as a domestic groom and then as a miller’s carter for Mr Archibald Gyton, owner of the Halesworth mill (see below). During the first quarter of 1908 Harry married Gertrude George from Upper Holton. Within a few weeks their son Harry John George Pettitt was born on 4th May 1908 with his sister Florence’s birth being registered on 10th April 1909. At the time of the 1911 census the family were to be found living at No.27 Thoroughfare. Sometime later the family left Suffolk and moved over two hundred and eighty miles north to settle in the Jesmond district of Newcastle-On-Tyne where, after Harry’s death, the family remained for the rest of their lives. After their arrival Harry senior found work with a Mr Arthur Bradnum, a local fruit merchant.
Prior to his marriage Harry had begun his military service during the early months of 1906 when he had enlisted in the Halesworth ‘F’ Company of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. He had continued to serve up until their disbandment, on the formation of the new Territorial Force (later army) on 1st April 1908. At the Volunteer’s final parade, held in the Rifle Hall, the Halesworth Times reported that the two Officers of the Company, Captain Parry and Lieutenant Lee, had paid for the refreshments during an evening of song and laughter, with one of the singers being Private Harry Pettitt. There is no sign of Harry transferring to the Territorials as several of his local friends had done. On the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, Harry, now married with two children and having moved to a new part of the country, had not volunteered to serve in the armed forces. However, as the war dragged on, with the numbers of casualties rising month after month, the Government were eventually forced to introduce compulsory conscription in January 1916. Harry’s notice to report for duty would have arrived in late 1916. By comparing his regimental number with other soldiers who had survived the war, with the majority of their records remaining we know that he enlisted in early February 1917, being posted to join the Grenadier Guards. This indicates that he must have been of a good stature as, even during the war, the Regiments of Foot Guards had endeavoured to maintain their pre-war minimum height requirement of 5ft 10ins which at that time was considered to be tall. From an article published in the Halesworth Times of 23rd October 1917, in which his family announced his death, it appears that Harry landed in France to join the 4th Grenadiers some time in late July 1917, where, over the following months, he would have settled down to a life at the front. In early October 1917 it is believed that Harry was with his battalion as part of the 3rd Guards Brigade as they were preparing to take part in what would later become known as the battle of Poelcappelle, in the Flanders region of Belgium. Prior to the attack, which was due to commence on 10th October, the 4th Grenadiers had, over a number of days, been tasked with preparing the front line by carrying forward stores of ammunition, food and water that would have been required if the assault had proved successful. Also, to the front of the British line, ran a stream known as the Broembeek, which had flooded due to the excessive rain over the previous days, so that, to give the attacking force a chance of successfully crossing the stream, the Guardsmen had, under the cover of darkness, laid matting over the marshy ground leading down to the stream’s edge. It is not clear if it was during the build-up that Harry received the wounds that he would eventually die from, while being treated in the 3rd Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps. A check of his battalion’s casualty roll over the previous week, shows that, apart from Harry, only one other soldier was reported as being killed in action on 7th October 1917.
After his death Harry was laid to rest in the Canada Farm Cemetery at Ypres, Belgium ,with over nine hundred other Commonwealth soldiers who had made the ultimate sacrifice. In the 1920s, when the cemetery was being formally laid out, relatives who wished to, for a small price, could add a text to the individual headstone Harry’s widow chose ‘Still to Memory Dear’.
The news of her loss would have eventually reached his wife Gertrude and then Harry’s parents in Halesworth over the following week or so, with the Newcastle Journal of 19th November 1917 reporting on a memorial service held in the city’s St Barnabas Church where Harry had been mentioned with another fourteen men from the district who had lost their lives over the recent weeks. On 26th October Gertrude applied for a widow’s pension for herself and her two children, for which she received the sum of £1 2s. 3d (£1.11p) per week, with a lump sum gratuity paid over two instalments that total £6. 7s. 4d (£6.37p) in August 1919.
Harry’s wife would have also been able to claim his medal entitlement of the British War and Victory medal pair with his named memorial plaque and scroll.
The location of these is not known.
The above is a copy of an original Field Service postcard sent to Harry’s mother by his younger brother George on 9th February 1915 while he was serving in France with the Essex Yeomanry.
On 22nd May 1917 the Halesworth Times published an article in which they had congratulated young George for being awarded a Military Medal for gallantry while under fire. The article went on to praise their parents, Charles and Louisa, for having all six of their sons serving in the army (see below). At that time Harry would still have been in England training but sadly he would be their only son to lose his life.
HALESWORTH LADS WIN THE MILITARY MEDAL
Should any writer ever undertake the task of giving an account of the part played by Halesworth Lads in the Great War, the family of Mr and Mrs Charles Pettitt, of Wissett Road, will occupy a prominent position in any such history. These good people have six sons, all of whom are at present serving in H.M. Forces, and news has just been received that the youngest of the six, George has received the Military Medal for conspicuous service rendered in the recent heavy fighting. In a letter dated May 8th to his parents, this young hero says – “I expect you will be pleased to hear that I have just been awarded the Military Medal, and was decorated by a General on May 5th.” Cpl. George Pettitt is only 21 years of age, and was for five years in the employ of Messrs. Roe & Co., in their furnishing department. He afterwards obtained an appointment with Messrs Bloomfield, of Colchester, where he was residing in 1911, when the War commenced. He enlisted in the Essex Yeomanry in September of that year, and was sent out of France two months later, and has only been home twice since that date. He will be remembered by many now residing in the Town, and we are sure his many friends will be glad to hear of his distinction. The other sons are –
Regt Sergt-Major William Pettitt – M.G.S. of 1st Suffolk Regiment.
Squadron S. Major Frederick Pettitt, 4th Irish Dragoon Guards.
Lce-Corpl Charles Pettitt, 6th Suffolk Cyclist Batt., now in Hospital, having received a wound in the hip in the recent advance.
Pte. Harry Pettitt, Grenadier Guards. (see story)
Farrier-Sergt. John Pettitt, Royal Garrison Artillery, now stationed in India.
Cpl. George Pettitt, Essex Yeomanry, (as above).
We offer Mr and Mrs Pettitt our sincere congratulations on this unique family record, and we venture to express the hope that all will “come through” the great ordeal safe and well.
The above photograph is of Harry’s employer, local miller and merchant of Mill House, London Road, Archibald Gyton who himself served during the Great War in the Suffolk Regiment and Labour Corps.