Hull Pals Memorial Post. Private, JOHN COMINS 10/31. Born 1896, the middle of three children, and only son, of George William Comins (1872-1942) and Elizabeth Litten (1874-1953). The family resided at 73 Goddard Avenue, Hull (War pension Address). John was a Clerk before the war but must have been in a hurry for some adventure for he was 31st in the long queue to sign up on the first day of the then fledgling 10th Battalion. Strange to think after all these posts that this man was right there at the start within sight of the Recruiting Station doors when they opened and those eager men poured in. This was 1st September 1914, less than a month after the outbreak of the war. John was 19. He fought in Egypt, on the Somme and at Oppy Wood before being fatally injured during the early days of the German Spring Offensive. He died of wounds, on 30th March 1918, just a few desperate months away from surviving a war that I’m sure seemed much less like an adventure to him now. John Comins is buried at St. Hilaire Cemetery Extension, he was 22 years old.
His CWGC Grave inscription, reads, “SACRED TO OUR HEARTS IS THE PLACE WHERE HE SLEEPS OUR HERO”
