Identity
Person No.
4068
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
First Name
Harold Brearley
Initials
H B
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
20
Military Service
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during attack of Fricourt. The Battalion lined up in the trenches in front of the village of Fricourt and had been told not to move until ordered to do so. But the A Coy attacked in error at 7.45 am and was practically destroyed in twenty yards by a single machine-gun (108 of its 140 men became casualties). The remaining companies attacked at 2.30 pm through the German barbed wire in which existed only four small gaps. Within three minutes, the Yorkshiremen sustained 351 casualties. A few reached the village but were soon killed or captured. The 7th Green Howards Memorial stands in the Fricourt British Cemetery (Bray Road) which is in the old No Man's Land where A Coy launched its tragic attack
Grave Reference
Location
Country
Locality
Coordinates
Additional Information
Notes
Son of Henry and Julia Coates, of 15, Sutherland Avenue, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Citation
Unknown
External Source
Unknown
South African War Graves Project