251471 Pte. Hermann Robert Alfred Bates British Army 2nd Battalion Leinster Regiment from:London (d.27th Mar 1918) On 17th Dec 1891 Hermann Bates was born in Bloomsbury, London to Andrew Wright Bates (1854-1920), a Police Constable from Chatham in Kent, and Beatrice Marie Bates (nee Milton, 1856-1952), of London.
Hermann was baptised on 15 Feb 1891 in the Parish of St George, Bloomsbury.
Taking employment as a porter, on 20 Dec 1914, he was married to Louisa Maria Vettraino, the daughter of Italian immigrants, at St Simon's Church Hammersmith, with an address given of 17 Anley Road, Hammersmith.
At some point he enlisted in the military, but his detailed enlistment records were lost in the London Blitz of 1940.
He is recorded as being Killed in Action on 27th of Mar 1918, in France (and Flanders) and is buried in Ste. Emilie Valley Cemetery at Villers-Faucon, Somme, France. This cemetery is about 17kms to the west of the town of Peronne.
The list of UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 by the British and Irish Military Databases, published by The Naval and Military Press Ltd. give Hermann�s details as a Private in the 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians), with the Regimental Number 5425.
However, this reference also lists him as formerly 146917, Royal Field Artillery and while there is no reason to doubt the veracity of this information, there is no other evidence to corroborate it. It could well be that he was enlisted into the RFA, but transferred to the Leinsters shortly after enlistment, it would not have been an unusual occurrence.
While his date of enlistment is unknown, Hermann and Maria had a baby daughter Gladys May on 15th of May 1915 and she was baptised four days later on 19th May. On the baptism register, Hermann's occupation is given as Post Office Porter, so it may be safe to assume that he enlisted after this date.
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