| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Archie was born in Beverley in 1884, one of nine children born to Ferdinand Drewry (1850-1924) and his wife Elizabeth nee Caley (1863-1927) who were married at Beverley, St Mary’s the 5 Oct 1870. Ferdinand had been a hawker but in the 1901 and 1911 censuses he is described as a coal and coke merchant. The family lived in Minstermoorgate and later 1 Grosvenor House, Cartwright Lane. Archie was employed as a whiting works labourer but by the start of the war worked as a tanner’s labourer at Hodgson’s in Beverley. He was unmarried.
Archie attested on 29 May 1916 and arrived in France on 5 Dec 1916. He served as a private in the 1st Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment. The 1st were involved in the Battle of Arras in April and May 1917 and at the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium in the second half of 1917.Archie died on 22 Oct 1918 when the 1st, part of 21st Division, were involved in pushing German forces out of northern France. His body was not found and he is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial.
There is some dispute over his death and the Beverley Guardian of 26 Apr 1919 reported that he died whilst in German captivity at Monterne. However the International Red Cross have no record of his capture and incarceration. According to fellow captive Private C Smith,
“After we were captured we were put to work burying the dead and then we worked in a stone quarry. We were brutally treated and starved. When Archie became ill through exhaustion and lack of attention to his wounds, medical aid was refused. He was buried with full military honours; this is the only good thing I can say about the Germans”.
Archie was awarded the War and Victory Medals. He is commemorated on the Hengate Memorial and in Beverley Minster on the East Riding Memorial. His name is also on the Hodgson’s Roll of Honour.
Includes, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |