Main CPGW Record
Surname: SMITH
Forename(s): Fred
Place of Birth: Cowling, Yorkshire
Service No: 29718
Rank: Private
Regiment / Corps / Service: Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Battalion / Unit: 2/8th Battalion
Division: 61st (2/South Midland) Division
Age: 35
Date of Death: 1918-03-31
Awards: ---
CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: P. IX. C. 4B.
CWGC Cemetery: ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, ROUEN
CWGC Memorial: ---
Non-CWGC Burial: ---
Local War Memorial: COWLING, YORKSHIRE
Local War Memorial: SKIPTON, YORKSHIRE
Additional Information:
Fred Smith was the son of Isaac and Harriet Smith, née Watson. Isaac was born at Cowling and Harriet at Sutton-in-Craven, Yorkshire.
1891 Cowling, Yorkshire Census: Gibb Street - Fred Smith, aged 8 years, born Cowling, son of Isaac and Harriet Smith.
1901 Cowling, Yorkshire Census: Gibb Street - Fred Smith, aged 18 years, born Cowling, son of Isaac and Harriet Smith.
Fred was married to Julia Heaton in 1907.
1911 Skipton, Yorkshire Census: 140, Keighley Road - Fred Smith, aged 28 years, born Cowling, Yorkshire, husband of Julia Smith.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Pte Fred Smith, 29718, R. War. R.
British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Pte Fred Smith, 29718, 2/8th Bn R. War. R.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Fred Smith, 29718, 2/8 Bn R. Wark. Date and Place of Death: 31.3.18. France. D. of W. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Widow Sole Legatee - Julia. £13 8s. 6d.
WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: card(s) exist for Fred. Names on card(s): Widow, Julia, born 7.4.78. Daughter, Evelyn, born 30.12.08. Addresses: 140, Keighley Road, Skipton, Yorks; 1, King Street, Keighley and 14, Third Avenue, Lund Park, Keighley.
On the 20 February 1918 the 2/8th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment was disbanded and its personnel transferred to the 2/7th Bn and the 25th Entrenching Bn. It is not known which of these battalions Fred was transferred to.
Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry
View Entry in CPGW BookEntry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:
SMITH, Fred, aged 35, Royal Warwickshire Regt., of 140, Keighley Road, Skipton, died of wounds, 1918.
SMITH, Fred James, 31st March, 1918. [Additional]
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Private Fred SMITH
Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 61st (2/South Midland) Division
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Additional Photo(s) For Soldier Records
Marriage Register of St. Peter’s, Keighley, Yorkshire
Entry for the marriage of Fred Smith to Julia Heaton, 16 November 1907
Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service
Next of kin Memorial Plaque
Courtesy of Paul Hindle
View Craven Herald Articles
View Craven Herald Articles
19 April 1918
Private Fred Smith, Skipton
Mrs. Smith, 140 Keighley Road, Skipton, has received the sad news that her husband, Private Fred Smith, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, has died from wounds received in action. Formally a warp dresser in the employ of Messrs. Dixon, Firth Shed, Skipton, Private Smith was 35 years of age and enlisted about a year ago and had previously suffered from trench feet. He was a native of Cowling, where his father, Mr. I. Smith, lives at 9 Gibb Street.
17 May 1918
COWLING – Memorial Service
At the Ickornshaw Wesleyan Church on Sunday morning a memorial service was conducted by Mr. A. Hey, of Burnley, to the memory of the late Private Fred Smith, who recently died from wounds received on the French front. The choir rendered the anthem ‘What are these ?’
28 March 1919
SMITH – In loving remembrance of a dear husband and dad, Private Fred Smith, who died from wounds in France on March 31st, 1918. Interred at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen.
“Too dearly loved and sadly missed to be forgot.”
From his Wife and Child, late 140 Keighley Road, Skipton.
02 April 1920
SMITH – In loving memory of a dear husband and father, Fred Smith, late Keighley Road, Skipton, who died from wounds March 31st, 1918.
“Though lost to sight, to memory ever dear.”
From his Wife and Daughter, Keighley.
01 April 1921
SMITH – In loving memory of a dear husband and father, Fred Smith, late Keighley Road, Skipton, who died from wounds March 31st, 1918.
“Still ours in memory, thought and love.”
From his Wife and Daughter, Keighley.
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
19 April 1918
SMITH – Died of wounds, Pte. Fred Smith, of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, husband of Mrs. Smith, of 140, Keighley Road, Skipton, aged 35.
19 April 1918
CRAVEN AND THE WAR
Private F. Smith Dies of Wounds
Private Fred Smith, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and of 140, Keighley Road, Skipton, has died from wounds received in action. He was 35 years of age, and before enlisting a little over a year ago was employed as a warpdresser at Firth Shed, Skipton. He was a native of Cowling, where his father, Mr. I. Smith, resides at 9, Gibb Street.
17 May 1918
COWLING
A memorial service was held in the Ickornshaw Wesleyan Church on Sunday morning, in commemoration of the late Pte. Fred Smith. Mr. A. Hey, of Burnley, was the preacher, and the choir rendered the anthem ‘What are these.’
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Lovely to see my Great grandads war records. His grandson Brian Heaton and I Paul Hindle his great grandson have both visited his grave in Rouen independently. It is on the outskirts of Rouen not near the church but easy to find especially with a modern mobile phone which 22 years ago didn’t exist. the cemetery and grave were immaculate. His war records were lost in a fire. I have his bronze death penny