| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
“Bert” Sharp was born in Molescroft in 1879. His father, Robert Sharp (1846-1897) was a police constable and originated at Weel; his mother Sarah Ann was from Beverley. They had married at Holy Trinity in Hull in 1873. They had eight children and lived for many years on Pig Hill Lane (now Woodhall Way). After serving an apprenticeship Bert became a stonemason in the employ of D Jenkinson of Well Lane. In Apr 1906 he was married in Beverley. His wife was Alice Ann Knight, born in 1879 in Beverley, daughter of farm worker George Knight of Flemingate. After the marriage Bert travelled alone to the USA on the liner Campania, from Liverpool to New York and then on to Michigan. He may have been seeking work. He returned to Hull where his first child, Alan, was born in 1909. Bessie was born in 1915. By this time Bert worked for Messrs Peers and Sons as a mason. The family lived on Chatham Ave in Hull.
Bert served in the Royal Engineers as a territorial soldier, in the East Riding (Fortress) Royal Engineers, later called the 129th (East Riding) Field Squadron. Upon the outbreak of war many of them were involved on the Humber forts spotting ships and zeppelins. Spare men in 1915 were formed into the 1/1st East Riding Field Company and attached to 3rd Division on the Western Front. They served in the Ypres area of Belgium in 1915-16, on the Somme in 1916, and then in the Battle of Arras in 1917. Bert did join them but probably not until 1916. In Feb 1917 they were renamed the 529th (East Riding) Field Company. Their duties were probably to do with communications. On 18 Jun 1917 Bert and some comrades were killed, possibly by shelling. His body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in France. Awarded the War and Victory Medals, he was described by his commanding officer in a letter to his wife as “such a reliable, good, fellow” and “the type of man it is very difficult to replace”.
Bert is commemorated on the Hengate Memorial and on the East Riding Memorial. He is also remembered on the East Riding Engineers Memorial in Hull Minster. |