| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
Harry Hunt was born in Beverley on 4 Sep 1896. He was the eldest son, and one of ten children, born to Tom Hunt and his wife Ann Elizabeth Hunt (nee Berridge). Harry's mother was originally from Bishop Burton whilst Tom Hunt was originally been from Broomfleet but had been working as a farm labourer in the Lund area. His parents married in 1889. The family moved into Beverley at the turn of the century: Tom became a general labourer then moved on to Beverley shipyard where he worked as a driller, a job he still retained in 1939. The family lived at 11 Railway Terrace later known as 38 Trinity Lane. Nothing is known of Harry's education but he was recorded as an errand boy for a coal merchant in the 1911 census. The Beverley Guardian of 21 Dec 1918 noted that he had worked for Mr Mustill of Wilbert Lane, Beverley, before military service.
Harry's military career is shrouded in some mystery as his papers are mostly missing. He served in the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, almost certainly alongside many other local men, possibly his brother Herbert Hunt Harry's first service number as a private (1628) suggests that he may have been in the 5th (TA) before the war; his second number (240276) suggests he agreed to serve overseas with the 5th but no date is known of when he joined the BEF. Indeed he spent some spells with the 4th and 10th battalions as well.
Harry was in France in late Mar 1918 with the 5th. A massive and surprise German attack on March 21st forced the British army into a chaotic retreat and on the 25th in the vicinity of Peronne, south of the Somme battlefield, Harry was taken prisoner. He was interned at Gustrow POW Camp in Germany, near Lubeck, in northern Germany. The camp held 25000 prisoners and a further 25000 were employed in the vicinity. Conditions by the end of the war were harsh-food was short, overcrowding rife and labour expected. Harry was repatriated to the UK after the war and arrived home on 9 Dec 1918
In late summer 1917 Harry had married Gertrude Biggins, born locally in 1893, daughter of a bricklayer who lived in Wilbert Lane. Their address in Beverley was in Regent Street. They had three children, the first, Mary, born in the late summer of 1918. Harry died in the Sculcoates area in early 1922 aged 25. He had been awarded the War and Victory Medals
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |