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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte. Cecil Henry Symons
British Army 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment
from:Bradford, West Yorkshire
(d.3rd Oct 1917)
Cecil Symons was born in Bradford on 2nd August 1894, the second child of Henry Octavius Paul Symons (known as Harry) and Eliza Cooke. Cecil's grandfather was a civil engineer who constructed railways all over England, including the Settle-Carlisle line. He settled his family in Bradford during the 1870s. Harry had been born in Hampshire. He started work as a clerk, as did two of his brothers, and he rose to become cashier to a wool-combing company. In 1890 he married Eliza, the daughter of a Bradford tailor. They had five children, four of whom survived infancy. Cecil showed promise from an early age and he went to Bradford Grammar School shortly after his eighth birthday in 1902. He would be a pupil there for seven years, leaving shortly before he was fifteen. Throughout his school years, he did well at French and also Maths, History, Geography and in his final year, Physics. From school, he went like his father to work in the wool trade as a clerk with wool merchants Messrs. Francis Willey and Co. in central Bradford.
When the war began Cecil was twenty and a single man living with his parents, near Toller Lane. He did not volunteer during the first year of hostilities but when the government moved towards conscription in November 1915 Cecil attested his willingness to serve when called upon. Although the place of his attestation was Bradford, he was assigned to the 2/5th Battalion, East Kent Regiment. He was duly mobilized in April 1916 and travelled to Tonbridge in Kent. His medical inspection reveals that he was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed a little over nine stones and his chest measured 36 inches. He received eight months training before he was sent to 38th Infantry Base Depot in France at the end of December, where he was posted to D Company, 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment (6th Buffs).
In 1917 Symons survived going over the top twice during the British Spring Offensive around Arras. On 9th April 6/Buffs successfully took their objectives for relatively light losses. On the disastrous 3rd May, the battalion lost 360 men for no gain at Monchy-le-Preux. The 6th Buffs were then withdrawn to refit and train in the new attack methods the B.E.F. was adopting. At the end of June Symons went down with trench fever, caused by infected lice bites, and was eventually taken to a hospital at Boulogne. He was not discharged until 4th September, and he was then at 38th Infantry Base Depot before returning to his unit on 24th September. A few days later on 3rd October, the 6th Buffs were in the front line at Monchy when a neighbouring battalion launched a raid on the German trenches. In retaliation the Germans heavily shelled The Buffs trenches, causing 33 casualties. Cecil Symons was one of six dead who were buried in the same row at Monchy British Cemetery.
Cecil's sibling Horace had volunteered before his elder brother, in January 1915. He served with the Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Engineers and survived the war. Their parents dedicated a window in St. Chad's, their parish church just off Toller Lane, to Cecil's memory.
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