3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Frederick Oliver was born in Bristol in about 1891.
He was one of eleven children born to Robert Oliver (born about 1851), a quarryman, and Elizabeth (née Hoare) (1860-1915), but moved to Coleford when he was aged about four. He became a coal miner and, before the Great War, the family lived at Mile End, near Coleford.
On 14 April 1912 Fred Oliver married Gladys Amelia Williams (1893-1981) at St John’s Church, Coleford. There were four daughters of the marriage and they lived at Broadwell Lane End, Coleford.
In the absence of an Army Service Record, probably one of those destroyed by enemy action in 1940, the date on which Fred joined the Army is not known.
His number in the Gloucestershire Regiment, 52987, indicates a late war entry or that he possibly served with another unit before joining them.
It may be that his occupation as a miner delayed his conscription because he had no overseas service.
Fred Oliver died on 7 November 1918 from pneumonia aged 29 years in Chaham, Kent at Fort Pitt Hospital and was almost certainly one of the victims of the ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic.
His remains were returned to his home for burial at, the then, Berry Hill (Christchurch) Cemetery.
His grave is marked with a standard CWGC headstone.
Researched by Eric Nicholls 22 December 2019