Rifleman Horace Claude Sirrell
| Date of Birth | 12 August 1885 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 29 |
| Date of Death | 9 May 1915 |
| Service Number | B/489 |
| Military Service | 2nd Battalion Royal Rifle Brigade |
| Merton Address | |
| Local Memorial | St. Luke's Church, Wimbledon |
Additional Information
Horace was born in Teddington on 12 August 1885 and baptised in SS Peter and Paul Church on 17 November 1886. He had an older sister Gladys and a younger sister Dorothy.
In August 1908, he enlisted in the South Wales Borderers claiming to be 19 years and 11 months old. He was 5ft 4ins tall, weighed 118lbs, had blue eyes and brown hair with a scar on his thigh.
In December 1908 he was tried for fraudulent enlistment, sentenced to 56 days detention and discharged the following May.
He married Amy Lovejoy at the end of 1911 and they had one child, Irene Amy, and moved to Wimbledon.
After the outbreak of war, he enlisted as a Rifleman in the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade and was killed on 9 May 1915. He is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial and St Luke’s Church, Wimbledon Park. His name on the tablet in the Church is shown as Horace George but there is no record of a Horace George Sirrell as a Rifleman living in Wimbledon, so it is thought to be a mistake.