SERGEANT FRANK COX 11/49. Born in 1890, Frank was the third of eleven children to Alfred and Mary Jane Cox of Roseville, East Acridge, Barton-on-Humber. A Cycle Polisher before the war, Frank was married in late 1914 and fathered two sons, Hubert and Clive. He enlisted in early September 1914, one of the first men to join the fledgling 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, Hull Pals. Promoted to Sergeant, 11/49, in the 11th East Yorkshire Battalion. Frank was killed in action, at Serre, on a night raid on 27th June 1916. He was buried at Knightsbridge Cemetery, a hastily prepared battlefield graveyard alongside the communications trench which gave it its name; he was 25 years old. His grave inscription, reads, “ON THE RESURRECTION MORNING”.
His family keep a framed collection of his postcards home from the trenches, and this is one of the photographs. The other shows Frank before he left for the Western Front, a determined-looking young man.
Thank you to Chris Cox (chrisncox@gmail.com) for the photographs and information sent about his Grandfather, on 06/02/2016.
