| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Ernest was born in Beverley the 22 Mar 1899 and baptised at Beverley Minster the 7 May1899. His father, John Ford (1864-1962), born in Lancashire, was a regular soldier and a colour-sergeant at Victoria Barracks, Beverley. John married Dinah Turner (1874-1951) in 1896 in Beverley. Her father had also been in the army and later lived with the family. She was brought up on Beckside and worked as a domestic servant. The family with three children lived in the York area before moving to 2 Long Lane, Beverley. In the 1911 census John was recorded as an unemployed army pensioner. Ernest was unmarried.
Ernest possibly joined the army in 1917 not being sent to France until the age of nineteen. He served as a private in the 1st Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment before being switched to the 10th Battalion. This was the 1st Hull Pals Battalion, the “Commercials”. Ernest had only been in France for a short while before he died. On the night of 26/27 Apr 1918 he may have taken part in a raid on German trenches, consisting of 4 officers and 125 other ranks, in the vicinity of La Becque in Belgium. Prisoners were taken and 60 German soldiers killed. However, Ernest did not return and was posted as missing in unknown circumstances. His body was never recovered, and he is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Belgium.
He was awarded the War and Victory Medals. He is commemorated on the Hengate Memorial and on the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster. |