BORN BARROW HAVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE, 29/10/1880. SON OF SYDNEY TURNER & CLARA TURNER, OF 18 SPRING STREET, HULL. SON OF A CIVIL ENGINEER. BROTHER TO, DOROTHY, TOM AND SYDNEY. HERBERT TURNER WAS EDUCATED AT OCKHAM SCHOOL AND HULL TECHNICAL COLLEGE. HE TOOK MUCH INTEREST IN FREEMASONRY AND WAS PAST MASTER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL LODGE, BEVERLEY. HE WORKED AS A SENIOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, FOR HULL CITY COUNCIL. JOINED THE ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY (TERRITORIAL FORCE) IN 1909 AND SERVED FOR FIVE YEARS. HE ENLISTED IN HULL ON 05/08/1914, THE DAY AFTER THE OUTBREAK OF WAR. REJOINED HIS FORMER REGIMENT. WAS GIVEN A COMMISSION AND GAZETTED TO THE ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY, ON 12/07/1915. PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT, ON 13/06/1917. PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN, ON 20/02/1918. SERVED IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS, FROM 05/10/1916. WAS KILLED IN ACTION NEAR AMIENS, ON 15/04/1918, AGED 38. MAJOR, A.E. JONES, OF THE RGA, WROTE, “HE IS GREATLY MISSED BY ALL OF US AND THE MEN, WITH WHOM HE WAS ALWAYS HELD IN THE HIGHEST ESTEEM, AS HE ALWAYS FIRSTLY CONSIDERED THEIR COMFORTS AND SAFETY, BEFORE THINKING OF HIMSELF. HIS TRAILS DURING THE GREAT RETREAT (MARCH 1918) WERE HEAVY AND MANY, BUT HE WORKED HEROICALLY, DID GOOD WORK WITH THE GUNS, AND BROUGHT ALL HANDS SAFELY THROUGH. HE HAS DIED A HEROIC DEATH AND THOSE OF US WHO SURVIVE THIS TERRIBLE ORDEAL, WILL EVER REMEMBER YOUR SON, GLANCING BACK ON THE DAYS OF THE GREAT WAR.” HE WAS AWARDED THE CROIX DE GUERRE (CDG), BY KING ALBERT OF BELGIUM, FOR HIS GALLANTRY, on 25/07/1918.
UNMARRIED. HE LEFT £416 IN HIS WILL TO HIS FATHER, SYDNEY, AT THIS PROBATE ADDRESS. HIS NAME IS RECORDED ON ST MARY’S CHURCH MEMORIAL, LOWGATE & THE HULL COLLEGE MEMORIAL.
BURIED ON THE SOMME, AT BOVES WEST COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION. HIS GRAVE INSCRIPTION, READS, “SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS”
The Garrison Artillery was composed of 104 service companies in 1900, forty of them in the UK, 37 in various colonies of the Empire and 27 in India. A company was commanded by a major with 6 or so officers, around 10 NCOs and 100 to 200 men. The uniform of Garrison Artillery was the same as Field Artillery except that they were more likely to wear trousers instead of boots and breeches. On their shoulder straps were the initials of the name of their Division and the number of their company. The RGA developed from fortress-based artillery located on British coasts. From 1914 when the army possessed very little heavy artillery it grew into a very large component of the British forces. It was armed with heavy, large calibre guns and howitzers that were positioned some way behind the front line and had immense destructive power.
The Heavy Batteries of the RGA
The Siege Batteries of the RGA
The Mountain Batteries of the RGA
The Anti-Aircraft Artillery of the RGA
The Royal Marine Artillery
RGA Companies at home and in Empire
