Pte 34646 Harry Hunter

• Age: 23
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• D.O.W Monday 31st December 1917
• Commemorated at: Outtersteene Cc Ext, Bailleul
  Panel Ref: II.D.60

Harry was born in Liverpool in late 1894 the fifth child of ten born to Hugh Hunter and his wife Sarah (née Ledson) who married on the 20th January 1886 at St Mary's Church, Walton on the Hill. Hugh was born in Tarleton and Sarah from the Walton area of Liverpool. Harry was baptised on the 31th December 1894 at St Mary's Church in Walton on the Hill.

He was educated at Longmoor Lane school from 1899 till 1904.

The 1901 Census shows the family living at 87 Sandy Lane, Aintree, Liverpool. His father, Hugh, is aged 36, born in Sollom, Tarleton in 1865 and is employed as a hay cutter, his mother, Sarah, is aged 37 and was born in 1864 in Liverpool, she has no occupation listed. They have six children at the taking of the Census; Margaret aged 13, born in 1888, Nellie aged 11, born in 1890 (Census incorrectly shows 1893), James Richard aged 8, born in 1893, Harry aged 6, born in 1895 and Sarah aged 1 born in 1900. The children were all born in Liverpool. Sarah’s widowed mother, Margaret Ledson, aged 76, born in 1825 in Liverpool is also living with them.    

The 1911 Census shows the family still living at 87 Sandy Lane, Aintree, Liverpool. His father, Hugh, is now aged 46, and is still employed as a hay cutter and the Census shows he was born in Preston. His mother, Sarah, is aged 47 and she has no occupation listed. They have been married for twenty five years and had ten children of which two have died. At the time of the Census they have seven children living at the home address; their children are; Margaret aged 23 and she has no occupation listed,  Nellie aged 21with a year of birth 1890 (previous Census showed 1893) is employed as a dressmaker, James Richard is employed as a hay cutter like his father, Harry is aged 16 and is employed as a butcher’s driver, Sarah is aged 11, Hugh is aged 9, born in 1902 and Lily aged 7, born in 1904 are all at school. 

Harry then aged 21, married, May Wright, aged 24 on the 09th April 1916 at St Lawrence's Church, Kirkdale. His address was then 79 Medlock Street. May, at the same address, gave her father as, John Wright, who was a fruit porter.

Harry enlisted in Liverpool and was serving with the 17th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 34646 when he died of wounds at a Casualty Clearing Station on 31th December 1917, exactly 23 years to the day that he was baptised.

War Dairy of the 17th Battalion for December 1917. 

POLDERHOEK SECTOR.

30/12/17 - Battalion entrained at FUZEVILLE af 2.30 PM. and after detraining at MANOR FARM HALT, marched to relief of 18th Bn Manchester Regt, at POLDERHOEK SECTOR (RIGHT SUB SECTOR.) No casualties.

31/12/17 - Battalion holding Front Line.

Harry now rests at Outterseene Communal Cemetery Extension, Bailleul, France.

Outtersteene was captured by the III Corps on 13 October 1914 but no Commonwealth burials took place there for nearly three years. In August 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres, the 2nd, 53rd and 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Stations came to Outtersteene, and the first and last of these remained until March 1918. The hamlet was captured by the Germans on 12 April 1918, and retaken by the 9th, 29th and 31st Divisions, with the ridge beyond it, on 18 and 19 August, but the cemetery was not used again during hostilities. After the Armistice, over 900 graves of 1914 and 1918 were brought into Plots I, II and IV from the battlefields surrounding Outtersteene and from certain small cemeteries. In the Extension, on the East side of the Communal Cemetery, were buried 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Australia, who fell in August and September 1918. 1,147 German graves were initially concentrated into Plot III. These were later removed to Steenwerck German Cemetery. The extension was used again in 1940, for the burial of those killed in the fighting which covered the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk. Outtersteene Communal Cemetery Extension now contains 1,393 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 499 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 14 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Second World War burials number 72, of which 23 are unidentified. The extension was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

His death was featured in the Liverpool Echo on Thursday 10th January 1918; 

DIED FROM WOUNDS. 

HUNTER - December 31, died from wounds received in action, at the Casualty Clearing Station, aged 23 years, Private Harry Hunter, second son of Hugh and the late Sarah Hunter, of 87, Sandy-lane, Aintree. (One of the best.) - His loving Sister Alice and Alex., 17, Tetlow-street, Kirkdale. 

There is a link death cannot sever - 

Love and remembrance live for ever. 

Also in the Liverpool Evening Express on Thursday 10th January 1918; 

LIVERPOOL’S FALLEN HEROES. 

Pte. H. Hunter, K.L.R., has died of wounds in France. Previous to joining the Army he was employed at L and Y Loco Sheds, Aintree, and resided at 20, Third-avenue, Fazakerley. He leaves a wife and child. 

On his birthday remembrance a newspaper notice reveals erroneously he has a fiancée Ada (Graney): 

Liverpool Evening Express - Tuesday 07 May 1918 

HUNTER - May 4, in his 25th year, Jim, the dearly beloved son of Hugh and the late Sarah Hunter, of 87, Sandy-lane, Aintree. (Too dearly loved to be forgotten by father, Cissie, Lily, and Hughie.) 

HUNTER - May 4, in his 25th year, Jim, the dearly beloved eldest son of Hugh and the late Sarah Hunter, 87, Sandy-lane, Aintree. 

Oft I think of you, dear Jim,  

And my heart is sore with pain;  

All this world would be Heaven  

Could I hear your voice again 

- His loving fiancée(sic), Ada, 44, Brock-st., Kirkdale. 

HUNTER - May 4, in his 25th year, Jim, the dearly loved and eldest son of Hugh and the late Sarah Hunter, of 87, Sandy-lane, and the dearly loved brother of Alice and Alexander O'Brien, of 17. Tetlow-street, Kirkdale. 

Short and sudden was the call  

Of one so dearly loved by all;  

His happy smile, his welcome face,  

No one can ever take his place.

A remembrance for Harry was reported in the Liverpool Echo on the first anniversary of his death on Tuesday 31st December 1918; 

HUNTER - In loving memory of our dear brother, HARRY, who died of wounds, in France, December 31, 1917. 

Fold him in Thine arms, O Lord,  

And ever let him be  

A messenger of love between  

Our broken hearts and Thee. 

- From his loving sister Alice and Alex, 17, Tetlow-street, and all at 87, Sandy-lane, Aintree. 

A remembrance was also posted in the Liverpool Evening Express on the second anniversary of his death on Wednesday 31st December 1919; 

HUNTER - In loving memory of my dear husband, Pte. Harry Hunter, K.L.R., who died of wounds in France Dec. 31, 1917. 

We mourn for you in silence,  

But with no outward show,  

For the hearts that mourn sincerely 

Beat silently and low. 

- Ever remembered, by his wife and child and all at 20, Third-avenue, Fazakerley. 

His Soldiers Effects, Army Pay £16 9s 1d, and a War Gratuity of £8 10s went to his widow May.

Pension records show his widow, May, and also a daughter Olwin May born on 13th October 1916. 

On the 1921 Census at Third Avenue, his widow, May, is aged 29 and Olwin May is 4, and she is living with her parents John and Susannah Wright.

His widow, May remarried, to Thomas Edward France at Emmanuel Church, Fazakerley in 1929.

On the 1939 register they are living at 33 Greenwich Road with four of their own children and Thomas E. France, aged 20, a soldier on leave.

His widow died, aged 84, in 1975.

Olwin married Richard Gorton in 1938.

Harry is commemorated on the following Memorials:

Emmanuel Church, Fazakerley and Longmoor Lane Junior School.

We currently have no further information on Harry Hunter. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.