8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
William Henry Turner was born in 1896, the son of George and Bertha Turner, who lived at 60 Newton Street, Coney Hill, Gloucester. According to the 1911 Census his father was a ‘journeyman baker’ and his mother a grocer.
According to the Gloucester Journal of 5 December 1914, after leaving school William had a job as a telegraph boy, based in Gloucester, before becoming a postman at Cinderford.
He responded to Lord Kitchener’s call to join the Army early in the war and was posted to the 8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment at Perham Down, near Tidworth in Wiltshire. In late November he contracted a chill which led to pneumonia and to his untimely death, aged 19, on 26 November 1914.
His remains were brought from Tidworth by motor hearse for his funeral with what the newspaper described as semi-military honours: this took place at Gloucester Old Cemetery on 1 December 1914.
A band was provided by the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and the 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment supplied drummers and a firing party.
Besides family mourners there were also representatives of postmen from Gloucester, Stroud and Cinderford. Also present were representatives from Coney Hill Sunday School and Mission.
Private William Henry Turner’s grave is now marked with a standard CWGC headstone.
Research by Graham Adams 21 December 2013