| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Ernest Straker was born in Beverley in 1891, the son of Thomas G Straker and Eliza (nee Ireland), they were both local and married in 1873. Thomas was a blacksmith and for a while the family lived in Stockton-on-Tees before returning to Beverley. Ernest was brought up on North Parade (Wilbert Lane), Spencer Street and then at 21 Landress Lane, Beverley. Ernest worked as a ships' carpenter at Beverley shipyard; indeed his father and his older brother, Henry, also worked there as a blacksmith as did brother Richard as a driller.
The three brothers Ernest, Richard and Thomas were featured in the Beverley Guardian newspaper in Apr 1916, at the time Ernest was undergoing his training. He served as a Corporal in the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, the Green Howards. They had been a Territorial Force before the war and Ernest's service number (287) suggests he may have been with them before the war. The 5th were badly mauled by the Germans in their Spring Offensive in Mar 1918 and were sent to a quieter front on the Aisne to recuperate. In late May 1918 the Germans launched Operation Blucher in the Aisne area, a surprise and overwhelming attack, which prompted a British rout and retreat. The 5th were decimated and surviving men were transferred to other regiments, including Ernest who joined the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He served in at least four of their battalions. He was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
In 1917 Ernest married Mary Emily Anderton at East Retford, Nottinghamshire. Ernest died in East Retford in 1966 aged 74.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |