17th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
Henry Knight was born in the first quarter of 1901 in Worcester to Joseph Knight and Emily Knight (formerly Hawkes). In 1901, he was living with his mother and grandparents in Bourne Brook Cottage, Strensham, just over the border in Worcestershire and the village where Emily had been born in 1879. At the same time, Joseph, a Mail Driver originally from Northamptonshire, was living at 6 Spring Lane, Worcester. However Joseph died in 1904 at the age of 40 and, on 8 September 1906, Emily re-married in Twyning, to Frederick Hyde, a Farm Carter. In 1911, the family, with the addition of another son, Herbert Charles Hyde, was living in Northway Farm Cottages near Tewkesbury; Henry was still at school.
We know nothing of Henry’s life after school but, in view of his age, he would likely have been one of the last conscripts. Henry was posted to the 17th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, one of the artillery units in the 29th Division which had been formed originally in 1915 from regular battalions returning from abroad. The Division served initially in Gallipoli and then moved to France and Flanders where it operated for the rest of the war. Henry does not appear to have joined his brigade overseas prior to the Armistice as there is no record of any campaign medals having been awarded to him.
Gunner Henry Knight died after the war on 4 March 1920 in the Cambridge Hospital at Aldershot Barracks; he was 19 years old. His death certificate cited influenza and empyema (pneumonia) as the causes. As he died in this country he was buried in his hometown was permitted and his grave is in the group of First World War plots in Tewkesbury Cemetery. It is possible that his death came too late for his inclusion on any of the memorials in Tewkesbury.
Researched by Malcolm Waldron November 2015