1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Henry James Hunt was born in Badgeworth, near Cheltenham in 1887 and was the son of James and Sarah Ann Hunt (née Wright).
His siblings were Sarah Clara Louisa (born 1888), William Benjamin (1890), Sidney (1894) and Edith (1896).
Henry married Lily Louisa Freeman at the Cheltenham Register Office on 23 February 1909, and they had two daughters, Lily Alice on 18 November 1909 and Winifred Susan in 1911.
Henry’s attestation in Cheltenham on 22 August 1904, showed his height to be 5’5”, and his trade an Agricultural Labourer. On 25 August he joined in Bristol, and was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment on 21 November 1904.
He was granted 1st GCB [Good Conduct Badge] on 22 August 1906, and transferred to Army Reserve ‘B’ on 21 August 1907 and taken on strength on 22 August. He was mobilised on 5 August 1914, and posted on 7 August to 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment.
He was discharged on 19 December 1914 with tubercle of the lungs which probably started from one of three attacks of influenza in 1905 and he was issued with a Silver War Badge.
In short, he served at home (22 August 1904 to 7 August 1914) then in France with the British Expeditionary Force (8 August 1914 – 5 September 1914), and home (6 September 1914 – 19 December 1914).
Henry died on 24 April 1919 aged 32 years and is buried in Section A of the churchyard of St Peters Church, Bentham, Gloucestershire. The churchyard is still under the dedication of St Peters in the Church of England, but the church is occupied by the Greek Orthodox and now known as St John Chrysostom Greek Orthodox Church of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Unfortunately, it would appear that Henry is not commemorated elsewhere. However, the plaque above is located within St John Chrysostom Greek Orthodox Church.
Researched by Baden Russell