3rd Battalion, South Wales Borderers
Information on Bert Hooper is rather sparse. The CWGC register states that his age at time of death was 23, which would indicate a birth year of 1895. A check of Birth registrations for Cheltenham indicates that the birth of a Frederick Albert Hooper was recorded in the first quarter of 1896 and if the child was known as ‘Bert’, this could be he. If this is the case, then the 1911 Census shows him as one of five children born to James William (retired postmaster) and Amelia Annie Hooper. Bert’s occupation is shown as a porter in a wine merchant. However, it cannot be certain that Frederick Albert Hooper and Bert Hooper are actually one and the same.
It can be determined, with some certainty, that Bert married Edith Nellie Sutton in the summer of 1914 and they had a daughter, Grace, born in the following year. A further daughter, Ellen, arrived in 1916. The family lived at 1 Victoria Place, Upper Bath Road, Cheltenham.
Following enlistment at Cheltenham, Bert was posted to the Gloucestershire Regiment and allocated the number 27300 and he has a Medal Index Card recording this service. At some point he transferred to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. Unfortunately no record of his military service survives but a recently released Pension Record Card shows that he died of pneumonia, on 15 October 1918. The Register of Deaths indicates that the death was in the West Derby Registration District, Liverpool. The 3rd Battalion, South Wales Borderers were based at Hightown, near Liverpool (as part of the Mersey Garrison) at that time and it is reasonable to assume that Bert Hooper died whilst serving there. At this time in 1918 the influenza pandemic, known as ‘Spanish Flu’ was taking a heavy toll and perhaps Bert was one of its victims.
Bert was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave and he is commemorated on the Cheltenham Town War Memorial.
Researched by Graham Adams 26 January 2013 (revised 28 July 2021)