8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Thomas James Cobert was born at Gloucester on 6 August 1895. His parents were James (a labourer) and Elizabeth (née Waters), who at that time lived at New Street, Gloucester. The couple had also had three daughters (Maggie, Dorothy Mary and Maria Magdeline). Maggie died at the age of one. It is believed that James Cobert died from an epileptic seizure on 23 July 1905, whilst employed as a hotel porter: he was aged 33. The death was reported in the Gloucester Citizen the following day.
His widow appears to have struck up a relationship with a Henry Capper soon after, as she had another daughter, Gertrude May, who was born in the final quarter of 1906. A son, Stanley Herbert Capper, followed in early 1911 and in the census of that year Henry Capper was shown as head of the household at 11 Moreton Street, Gloucester, along with Elizabeth Cobert and all the surviving children, which included Thomas. Elizabeth Cobert married Henry Capper at Gloucester in 1920.
Unfortunately no Army Service Record has survived for Thomas but it is possible that he joined the Army early in the Great War, as his entry in the Medal Index Roll shows him serving with the 10th, 12th and 1/6th Battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment and the CWGC record indicates his final service was with the 8th Battalion.
A long list of recruits for the 5th Glosters (Depot Company) appears in the Gloucestershire Journal of 20 November 1915 (there is no evidence that he served with the 5th Glosters). His name appears as wounded in casualty lists published in the same paper on 26 August 1916 and 20 January 1917 and similarly in the Gloucestershire Chronicle of 29 September 1917.
The conclusion we can draw is that he saw a great deal of action on the Western Front. It is not known whether he was wounded again but it is known that he died of wounds at Southwark Military Hospital, London on 25 April 1918, aged 22. A notice of death appears in the Gloucestershire Journal of 4 May 1918 and states his address to be 27 Victory Road, Gloucester.
Private Cobert is buried in Gloucestershire Old Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave. He is commemorated on the Gloucester War Memorial but his initials are wrongly shown as ‘C J’.
Researched by Graham Adams 22 January 2016