Address: 68 Long Street, Hanslope
Born: August 8, 1897; Baptism September 19, 1897
Died: killed in action October 4, 1917 aged 20
Family Information:
Parents: Harold/Harry Bates – labourer & Ann/Annie Bates
Siblings: Ernest Bates born 1896; Kate Bates born 1899 (married John Thomas Green 1920)
(HDHS)
Army Information:
Enlisted Bletchley; formerly 24351, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
Private 34691 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry attached 9th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Killed in action October 4, 1917. Initially buried at Lillebeke but in 1920 his body was exhumed and buried at HOOGE CRATER CEMETERY, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Grave XII. F. 12.
(www.roll-of-honour.com/Buckinghamshire/Hanslope)
Newspaper Information:
Wolverton Express – October 24, 1917
‘Mr. Harry Bates, of Long Street, Hanslope, has been notified that his 20 year old son, Private Harold Bates, was posted as missing after an engagement on October 4th, 1917. Mr. Bates has heard indirectly that his son was wounded and sent on to a dressing station, but no further information has been forthcoming. The Red Cross Society have promised to make further enquiries. Mr. Bates has another son at Salonika.’ [See Ernest Bates’ above]
Remembered: Hanslope War Memorial, St James Church