Surman, Harold 1918.

Harold Victor Surman. Died 16 November 1918
Harold was born in 1890 to father Thomas and mother Mary Ann in Wokingham, Berkshire. He was the tenth born and had eleven siblings, eight brothers and three sisters. By the age of 21, Harold had become a Cowman and later a baker during the war. His parents lived at 8 Budges Cottages and his father was a gardener at a ‘pleasure ground’ in 1911. Harold married twice. His first marriage was in 1914 to Elizabeth Harden, which ended early due to her death in 1915. Harold was to marry again in 1916 to Ethel Mary Swindon in Reading, Berkshire. From his war record, Harold joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1917. There is an exemption stamp on the record. We have no information on Harold’s activities in the war, but know he died of pneumonia at the hospital camp in Etaples, France on the 16th November 1918, just under a week after peace was finally called. Harold was 29 and we do know of any children from his two marriages.

Name: SURMAN, HAROLD VICTOR
Initials: H V
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Medical Corps
Unit Text: 2nd/1st (S. Midland) Field Amb
Age: 29
Date of Death: 16/11/1918
Service No: 123040
Additional information: Son of Thomas and Mary Ann Surman, of Forest Rd., Binfield, Berks; husband of Ethel M. Surman, of 2, Evendon’s Cottages, East Heath, Wokingham, Berks.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: L. C. 25.
Cemetery: ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY

Historical Information: During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway from both the northern or the southern battlefields. In 1917, 100,000 troops were camped among the sand dunes and the hospitals, which included eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick. In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals and the Q.M.A.A.C. convalescent depot remained. The cemetery contains 10,771 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915. 35 of these burials are unidentified.

The Lodge, Forest Road, Wokingham 1901 (with parents)
8 Budges Cottages, Wokingham, Berkshire 1911 (with parents)
2 Evendon’s Cottages, East Heath, Wokingham (1916 with his wife Ethel)