Sergeant Paul Forrester
| Date of Birth | 31 January 1887 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 29 |
| Date of Death | 26 August 1916 |
| Service Number | W/261 |
| Military Service | 13th Battalion Cheshire Regiment |
| Merton Address | 6 Pincott Road, Wimbledon |
| Local Memorial |
Additional Information
Paul Forrester was the son of Robert Paul Forrester and Fanny Forrester, of 2, Croft Rd., Merton, London. He was born on January 31, 1887, and baptised on June 5th at Holy Trinity, Wimbledon. His father worked as an “assurance agent,” and the family lived at 73 Palmerston Road. In 1891, the family was living at 12 Granville Road, South Wimbledon, and his father Robert was working as a dairyman’s foreman.
Paul had three older siblings, Janet, Eleanor, and Archibald, and two younger sisters, Winifred and Grace. His mother died at some point between 1891 and 1901, and Robert’s sister appears to have moved in with them to help with the children. In 1901, they were living at 6 Pincott Road. Robert was working as a beer bottler, and Paul had been put to work as a news boy. In 1911, he was in Sheffield on the day of the census (perhaps courting a young lady his age who lived at that address?), and working as an actor.
Paul Forrester enlisted in the 13th Battalion Cheshire Regiment in Wallasey in Cheshire. The war diary of the battalion refers to it as the Wirral Battalion, although it did not have this as an official second title. It was formed at Port Sunlight on 1 September 1914 by Gershom Stewart, MP. It moved to Chester in October 1914 where it came under orders of 74th Brigade in 25th Division. By December 1914 it was in billets in Bournemouth before moving to Aldershot in May 1915. It landed in France on 25th September 1915 .
The battalion engaged in various actions on the Western Front in 1916 including the German attack on Vimy Ridge, the Battle of Albert, the Battle of Bazentin, the Battle of Pozieres and the Battle of the Ancre Heights. By 18th August the battalion was engaged in the Battle of Pozieres Ridge on the Somme, which had commenced the previous month. Serjeant Forrester was killed in action on 26th August.
Serjeant Forrester is remembered on the Thiepval memorial. This memorial commemorates more than 72,000 men of British and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave, the majority of whom died during the Somme offensive of 1916.