8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Francis Edward Gerrish was one of 12 children born to John William and his wife Harriet Louisa (née Parker) of Painswick. His birth was registered in the third quarter of 1896, but he was not baptised until 15 October 1899 when his younger sister, Alice was baptised. Francis has both Edward or Henry as second names on census and baptism records.
John was a carpenter, born in Painswick. The family lived at Clattagrove, Painswick.
The 1911 census shows that 14-year-old Francis was an errand boy. By this time there were only four children living at home. Mrs Gerrish clearly felt there was a need to increase her income from having spare rooms as there are several adverts in the Gloucester Journal in 1910 advertising two/three rooms to rent ‘with attendance … terms moderate’.
No Army service records survive but Francis’ funeral report in the 4 July 1919 edition of Stroud News and Journal, states that he enlisted at the outbreak of war. He was almost certainly posted to the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment (part of 57 Brigade, 19th Division) and went across to France with them on 18 July 1915. The battalion was heavily involved in the fighting on the Somme in July 1916. Private Gerrish is listed in the Gloucester Journal of 16 August 1916 as one of the injured of the Gloucestershire Regiment.
Francis must have recovered as the funeral report says he was seriously wounded in the jaw in early 1918: when returning he was probably posted to the 1st Battalion of the Glosters. He was in Manchester hospital for nine months ‘spending eight weeks on sick leave at home two months ago. In spite of the serious nature of his injuries he was making progress towards recovery, but unfortunately, through a chill, he contracted tonsillitis and died on Wednesday of last week at the age of 23.’ His parents had visited him in Manchester. The report added that Francis was the youngest son and that four of his brothers were either serving or had been demobilised. (I have been unable to trace definitive service records for any of his brothers.)
The Medal Index Card gives an entry date of 18 July 1915 and there is an entry for Francis on the UK Army Register of Soldiers Effects. It states that he died on 25 June 1919 (aged 22) at the General Hospital, Manchester (this was probably the 2nd Western General Hospital, a large establishment with 24 units scattered about the city and in Stockport). His father, John whose occupation was given as ‘undertaker Messrs Burdock and Sons, received a payment of £38 16s 7d.
Gerrish has a CWGC headstone and a family one which his parents erected to mark the loss of their sons Percy John who died on 20 March 1918 aged 30 and Francis ‘died of wounds received in France’, and of their daughter, Alice Maud who died on 29 October 1919 aged just 20. He is commemorated on the Painswick War Memorial.
Researched by Helen Wollington 13 May 2018