Private Charles William Fryer - St John the Evangelist - Slimbridge, Gloucestershire - Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com

A memorial to Private Charles William Fryer who fell in WWI, located at the west end of St John the Evangelist's church, Slimbridge.

The info board tells us:
"Charles William Fryer was born in Purton on October 12th 1890 the son of Edwin Fryer and Elizabeth Fryer. He was one of 9 children and the oldest of 4 sons who served in the Army during WW1. His brother Edwin George married Annie Shipway, sister of George Shipway who was also killed and commemorated on the Slimbridge War Memorial.

He married Margaret Theyers in 1909. In 1911 they lived in Slimbridge Street, Cambridge and Charles was working as a machine iron moulder. Charles and Margaret had three children, Elsie Florence, Eileen Gladys and Frederic Charles.

He joined 'B' Coy. 10th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment in Dursley and was killed aged 25 on April 4th 1916 in the fighting in the area South East of Bethune.

The Regimental Diary has the following entry for 1-7 April 1916:

Battalion in the trenches in the DOUBLE CRASSIER (when holding the front line) and (when in support) in cellars in SOUTH MAROC. Very uneventful. One sergeant killed in the sap* on the CRASSIER ET three men killed when forming part of a working party in THE EMBANKMENT

* In trench warfare, the practice of digging small 'sap' trenches at roughly ninety degrees out from existing lines and then digging a new trench line at the front of the saps. A slow, but relatively safe, way of moving forward.

Presumably Charles was one of the three men mentioned. He is buried in the Maroc British Cemetery, Grenay, France.

From the 'Gazette' Iii a letter to his wife, Second Lieutenant S. E. Brander writes:

"It is a consolation that he suffered no pain. I was standing by Private Fryer at the time. We were digging and the shell came. Death was instantaneous. Forgive me if 1 have been abrupt in expressing myself Your husband was in my Platoon no.8 and was a qualified bomber, about. the best in the Company. I knew him very well and had been speaking to him a few minutes before the shell burst. I lis loss is felt very keenly by everyone else in the Company."

The Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war.

The plaques (more strictly described as plaquettes) were made ()I' bionze, and hence popularly known as the "Dead Man's Penny", because Of the similarity in appearance to the somewhat smaller penny coin), 1,355,000 plaques were Issued, which used a total of 150 tonnes of bronze, and continued to be issued into the 1930s to commemorate people who died as a consequence of the war."

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