256685 Bmdr. Ernest William Coates British Army 195th Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery from:Church Row, Ten Mile Bank, Nr Downham Market, Norfolk Whilst researching my local memorial Littleport, there was one man named on the memorial I had been unable to find. The only reference to the E. T. Coates on the war memorial is in Barbers Almanac shown as Ernest T. Coates on the List of Names of Men who have lost their lives in the Great War which it is proposed to place upon the War Memorial Tablet.
Also in this list is Isaac S. Coates who is actually Isaac Thompson Coates. After many months of research I have not been able to find an Ernest Coates killed in the Great War with any connection to Littleport or the local area. The closest soldier that I have found is Ernest William Coates Bombardier of 195th Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery who attested on the 11th December 1915. He lived with his wife Ellen Violet and daughter Phyllis Verina at Church Road, Ten Mile Bank. He was wounded in action twice the first time on the 14th of July 1918 a gunshot wound to the foot, then on the 15th of December 1918 a wound to the abdomen where he was admitted to the Casualty Clearing Station at Eastleigh. On the 5th of February 1919 he was transferred to Bermondsey Military Hospital as he had not returned home directly after the end of the war, I believe that he could be the soldier in question.
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