Herbert Noble
Herbert was born in St Ives in 1892, one of nine children born to Mark, a self-employed cattle dealer, and Jane (née Bement). In 1901 they lived at Pig Lane Farm, St Ives. Herbert's father died in 1904, when Herbert was 12yrs old.
The family moved to Crown Farm, St Ives by 1911. Herbert's mother carried on the family business as a dairy farmer, selling milk to the residents of St Ives. Four of the five children still lived at home employed in the family business, including Herbert as a yard man. His mother was in court in 1913 for selling milk 'not of substance or quality', as reported by the Hunts Post on 26 September 1913.
Herbert married Lily Johnson in 1915. His appeal against call up in 1916 was refused, as reported 3 March 1916. Enlisting at Huntingdon shortly after, Herbert joined the 59th Division, Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery. With experience of caring for horses as part of the family dairy business, the Army made use of his skills as a shoeing smith.
It was the responsibility of Herbert's Division to collect ammunition from Divisional ammunition parks and deliver as near to the front line as road conditions allowed. Although out of range of most enemy fire, they were still subject to shelling from long range German artillery.
 |
| Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery |
It's uncertain how Herbert died, on Monday 30 April 1917 aged 25yrs. He is buried at Bray Military Cemetery, Somme, France and commemorated at the family grave in Westwood Road Cemetery, St Ives.
Herbert's brother, Harry, also served in the War and was wounded as reported in the Hunts Post on 14 June 1918. Herbert's mother fought hard to keep her youngest son William from enlistment, appealing at the Military Tribunal as reported on 9 March 1917, 22 June 1917 and 31 August 1917. Alfred also appealed, reported on 23 June 1916.
Do you have a photograph of Herbert or any additional information? If so, please get in touch via the make contact page.
Source materials
Click any of the links below to view original source materials.
No comments:
Post a Comment