Coupland, Ernest.

BORN HULL 1892. SON OF GEORGE (A RENT COLLECTOR) & ANNIE, OF THIS ADDRESS. HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS. CAPTURED AT OPPY WOOD. HE DIED A PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, AGED 25. HIS NAME WAS RECORDED ON HULL KINGS HALL CHURCH ROLL OF HONOUR, SYMONS STREET, HULL.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE, ERNEST COUPLAND 11/532. Born on 29th June 1892, Ernest was the eldest of three children to George and Annie Cooper of 9 Northumberland Avenue, Hull. A Joiner before the war, he enlisted on Tuesday 8th September 1914 at Hull City Hall joining the fledgling 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. A veteran of Egypt and the Somme, Ernest was briefly promoted to acting Lance Corporal in August 1916 but he voluntarily relinquished this rank in October. A member of D Company he was captured on 3rd May 1917 during the attack on Oppy Wood being first listed as missing and then confirmed a prisoner of war on 29th May which must have been an anxious few weeks for his parents. Their hopes were however dashed on 15th July 1917 when a message was sent from German High Command to their British counterparts from Dulmen in Germany:
The Prisoner of War Hospital in Dulmen has notified that Ernest Coupland, English prisoner of war, corporal (sic) in the East Yorkshire Regiment, aged 25 years, Protestant religion, resident at Hull, England, born at Hull, England, unmarried, son of Municipal Officer John Coupland and his wife Annie, both of Hull, England died at Dulmen in the Prisoner of War Hospital on 5th July 1917 at 3.30pm of inflammation of the lungs. The official cause of death was listed as ‘Pneumonia’. Ernest was buried at Cologne Southern Cemetery. His grave inscription, reads, “TO LIVE IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WE LOVE IS NOT TO DIE”.

The attack on Oppy Wood, part of the Battle of Arras, was a significant battle for the East Yorkshire Regiment and particularly for the city of Hull.  All four Hull Pals battalions were involved on 3 May and all suffered heavy casualties, with 40% of those present killed or injured. 2nd Lieutenant Jack Harrison, a local teacher and rugby player with Hull FC, won a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery in rushing a machine gun position to protect his platoon. His body was never found.
The village of Oppy in France had been in German hands since October 1914 and was part of a formidable defensive system including trenches, dug-outs and thick barbed wire defences. During the Battle of Arras, which began in April 1917, the British tried to take Oppy. The first attack was a failure. A second attack was partially successful. The third attack on 3 May, known officially as the Third Battle of the Scarpe, was again unsuccessful with significant loss of life. The troops were ordered to attack at 3.45am, rather than at dawn, and the defending Germans could easily see the line of British soldiers clearly lit by the full moon. The British continued to attack Oppy and were finally successful the following year. The City of Hull Memorial at Oppy was unveiled in 1927 and commemorates the men of the Hull Pals who were killed on 3 and 4 May 1917.
First name:
ERNEST
Regiment:
11th East Yorkshire Regiment (Hull Tradesmen)
Military Number:
11/532
Rank:
Private
Date Died
05/07/1917
Place died:
Cologne Southern Cemetery, Germany
Age:
25
14 GEORGE'S GROVE, NORTHUMBERLAND AVE., HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Place Buried
Cologne, Germany