231520 Pte. Walter Stanley Gregory British Army 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (d.1st July 1916) One of the tasks of the 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry on 1st July 1916 was to assist in the capture of Lozenge Alley and part of Lozenge Wood. Private Gregory was killed north of Fricourt on that day in action with the 21st Division. It seems that 144 soldiers of his division were killed that day.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. He was one of 168 Old Boys of Taunton School who gave their lives in the Great War - three of whom died on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme. They will be especially remembered at the School Commemoration this year, which falls on 1 July, the centenary of the battle.
Unfortunately, few details of Walter Gregory's schooldays are known and there is no photograph. He attended Taunton School, probably as a boarder, from 1896-98 when the school was still known as Independent College.
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