Cossley John Berkeley Hunt

Story:
Cossley John Berkeley Hunt was born in 1898 in Cann, Shaftesbury, Dorset. He was the son of John Thomas Hunt, a farm labourer, and Wilhelmina Augusta Martha Hunt (née Knight).  At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, was a scholar and living at Cann, Shaftesbury. He enlisted in Dorchester with the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 25746) but was quickly transferred as a Private to the 2nd Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (Service No. 29223). He served in France and Flanders and was eventually awarded the Victory and British War medals. He was killed in action on 4th October 1917 and was buried at Bedford House Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Enclosure No. 4, VIII.C.7). His grave is situated in Enclosure No. 4 which is described as 'the largest (site) which was used from June 1916 to February 1918 largely by the 47th (London) Division and after the Armistice it was enlarged when 3,324 graves were brought in from other burial grounds and from the battle fields of the Ypres Salient. Almost two-thirds of the graves are unidentified'. Cossley is remembered on the Cann War Memorial, Shaftesbury.  A dependent's pension was claimed and paid to his Aunt, Mary Schofield, then living in Blandford St. Mary, Dorset, in lieu of Cossley's parents who had both passed away. His brother, Arthur Reginald George Hunt, served in the Royal Marines Light Infantry during the conflict and went on to transfer to the Royal Navy in 1929 until mid-way through WW2.