Pte 31521 Fred Hargreaves Ecroyd

• Age: 26
• From: Accrington, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Monday 10th July 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Fred Hargreaves Ecroyd was born in Accrington in the third quarter of 1889, the son of Samuel Ecroyd and his wife Eliza Ann (nee Hindle). His parents married at St James' Church, Accrington in 1868.

The 1891 Census shows the family are living at Hopwood Street, Accrington. His father, Samuel, was born in Accrington in 1843 and employed as a Cotton Weaver. His wife Eliza Ann was born in Edgerton, Lancashire in 1846. Fred is shown as a one year old child. He has four older sisters Betsy Ellen born in 1873 at Bolton, Sarah Alice born in 1875, Nancy H. born 1877 and Edith May born 1883.

His father died soon after the Census in the June quarter of 1891, aged 49.

By 1901 the family are living at 9 Frederick Street, Accrington. His mother is head of the household and is now widowed. Fred is now 11 and three of his sisters are still present in the home; Sarah Alice, Annie b. 1877 and Edith May.

In 1911 the family are at 109 Higher Antley Street, Accrington. Fred is now 21 and shown as employed as a baker. His mother is aged 65, and he has three sisters in the household; Sarah Alice 26 a cotton winder, Annie 34 a cotton warper, and Edith May 28 a cotton weaver.  

Fred's mother died in the December quarter of 1914, aged 69. 

Fred had moved to Liverpool by the time he enlisted in the city and was serving with the 17th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 31521 when he was killed in action at Trones Wood. He was 26 years of age. 

The murderous fighting that went on inside Trones Wood rendered it impossible to put specific dates on some of the casualties which is why many of the 17^th Battalion losses have been bracketed as killed in action between 10^th – 12th July 1916. The conditions are best described in the following passage from Everard Wyrall’s book The History of The King’s Regiment (Liverpool) Volume II. 

The remembrance of Trones Wood in July 1916 to those who passed through it is of a noisome, horrible place, of a tangled mass of trees and undergrowth which had been tossed and flung about in frightful confusion by the shells of both sides. Of the ghastly dead which lay about in all directions, and of DEATH, lurking in every hole and corner with greedy hands ready to snatch the lives of the unwary. The place was a Death trap, and although the attacks were made with great determination,   the presence of snipers who could not be detected and often fired into the backs of our men made the clearing of the wood impossible.

Fred’s death was announced in the Liverpool Echo on 02^nd August 1916:  

OIL MILL WORKER

“Private Fred Ecroyd, of the “Pals”, has been killed.  He was twenty-six years of age, and resided at 71, Albany Road, Kensington, Liverpool.  He was employed at Messrs. Bibby’s Oil Mills.”

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”