Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE ERNEST CROSS 29773. Born Hull, 1899, Ernest was one of two children and the only son of William and Kate Cross of 33 Portland Street, Hull. A Milkman by trade, 5’6″, 36″ chest, 122lbs, good physical development.
He enlisted on 18th September 1916 and was mobilised on 28th February 1917 originally as Trooper, 51241 in the 2/1st East Riding Yeomanry. He arrived in France on 19th December 1917 and was transferred to the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. Ernest was killed in action in his first action, as the Pals faced the full onslaught of the German Spring Offensive on 27th March 1918. His body, like so many of his fallen comrades that day, was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial; he was 18 years old. A boy. Whether the loss of his only son was too much for him to take, or whether it was just his time we’ll never know, but William Cross died in June 1919 leaving Kate and her daughter Mary to an uncertain future.
