Cyril Bernard Hardy

Story:
Cyril Bernard Hardy (sometimes using the names in reverse and known in the family as 'Bernard') was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 20th May 1894 and baptised there on 15th Juy 1894, the son of Leonard Randolph Hardy and Evangeline Hardy (née Knapton).  His father was a baker and Cyril followed in that trade.  He enlisted on 7th February 1916 and was mobilized on 5th April 1916 by joining the 7th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private (Service No. TR/8/8191).  He later transferred to the 35th Training Battalion on 1st Sep 1916.  He served in France and Flanders with the Dorsetshire Regiment and, from 16th December 1916, the 1st Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment (Service No. 49017).  He received gunshot wounds in the leg, arm and left hand on 4th October 1917 whilst in the field near Ypres, Belgium.  He was treated initially at the 41st Casualty Clearing Station until 16th October 1916 when he was repatriated back to England and admitted to the Fort Pitt Military Hospital, Chatham, Kent.  He was later sent to Rust Hall Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, for rehabilitation at which time he was fitted with a surgical boot due to a pronounced limp.  He was eventually discharged due to his disability on a permanent pension on 20th March 1918.  He was awarded the Victory and British War medals as well as the Silver War Badge No.369095 in addition he had a life pension. The 1921 Census shows him living with his parents at 34 Bell Street, Shaftesbury.   He married Beatrice E. Toogood in Shaftesbury during 1925.  There are no known children of the marriage.  By the 1939 Register he was still living at 34 Bell Street, Shaftesbury, and working as a confectioner and cake salesman - he was also a Special Constable.  He died locally on 30 Oct 1986 aged 92 years.