246103 2Lt. Ralph Bourne British Army 158th Brigade Royal Field Artillery (d.10th September 1917 ) Ralph Bourne, son of Arthur Mason & Edith Mary Bourne was born on the 10th January 1894 in Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic, his father was a mining engineer. He travelled to the UK in 1899 with his parents and siblings John & Marjery. The 1901 census shows him living with his mother and siblings at the home of his widowed paternal grandmother Ethel Bourne of Hilderstone Manor, House, Stone, Staffordshire. At some time before 1905 the family move to Bedford where he attends Bedford Modern School. In 1908 he then attends Bridgnorth Grammer School, his mother is still living in Bedford whilst his father is believed to be working in Mexico. He leaves school in 1910 but does not appear on the 1911 census with his mother and siblings, it is possible he returned to Argentina. At the time the CWGC records are compiled his mother is living at 101 St. George's Square, London. He initially served with the Royal Field Artillery as a Private before he was commissioned and moved to the 158th Brigade Royal Field Artillery( new unit formed in April 1917) He was killed in action on 10th September 1917 during the Ypres Salient, his battery was at Nieuport-les-Bains, and is buried in Coxyde Military Cemetery, Belgium. He is remembered on the Bridgnorth War Memorial. A pupil of Bedford Modern School 1905-08, he is commemorated on the School War Memorial, which was unveiled in 1923 and in the Roll of Honour, published in The Eagle, December 1923. The Old Boys of this School who, as in duty bound, laid down their lives in a great cause. Information courtesy of www.roll-of-honour.com
|