Daniel Gray

Daniel Gray

Born in St Ives in 1889, Daniel was the one of twelve children born to William and Alice (née Bedford). Three of the children died in infancy. Daniel's father was a journeyman currier and died in 1902, aged 51yrs. The family home was in Oakland Terrace, St Ives. In 1911 Daniel still lived at home with four of his siblings. He worked as a letterpress printer.

It's not clear when Daniel sign up to go to war. He enlisted at Huntingdon and joined the 5th Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment). It's likely he fought with them in the hell that was Gallipoli. Engaged in the battle from July 1915, within days half the Battalion was wiped out. They then settled down to trench warfare in the searing heat, the main enemies dysentery and jaundice. The evacuation from Gallipoli was one of the few successes of the campaign.

British and Indian soldiers in Mesopotamia

The Battalion transferred to Mesopotamia and took part in several battles against Turkish forces in and around Baghdad. It was during one of these actions that Daniel was killed, on Sunday 18 June 1916, aged 26yrs. He was buried in Basra War Cemetery, Iraq.

Do you have a photograph of Daniel 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.
1891 Census
1901 Census
1911 Census
Commonwealth War Graves Register
Commemorative Certificate