Sixpenny Handley War Memorial

Fred Herbert Weeks

Surname: Weeks
Other names: Fred Herbert
Other people in this story:
John Weeks
Charlotte Weeks nee Brewer
Sidney Albert Weeks
Locations in this story:
Wimborne, Dorset
France & Flanders
Bethencourt Communal Cemetery, Nord, France
Petermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
Sixpenny Handley, Dorset

Story:
Fred Herbert Weeks was born in 1884 in Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, and was baptised there on 29th June, 1884. He was the son of John Weeks, a Farm Labourer, and Charlotte Weeks (nee Brewer). At the time of the 1911 Census he was single and was a career soldier serving with the Regimental Transport, (Corps unknown), stationed in Petermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa. His home address was Sixpenny Handley, Dorset. In the war he served in France & Flanders as a Private in the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire) Regiment (Service No. 6817). He was awarded the Victory, British War and 1914 Star medals (Clasp). The records state he died of wounds on 27th Aug 1914 and is remembered on a Special Memorial within Bethencourt Communal Cemetery, Nord, France (grave id. Special Memorial 3). The WGC states " There are now over eighty 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these a small number are unidentified and nine graves which cannot now be traced are represented by Special Memorials". This presumes that Fred was buried there but the whereabouts of actual grave unknown. He is remembered on the Sixpenny Handley War Memorial. His father died in 1919.  His brother, Sidney Albert Weeks, also served but survived the conflict.

Images:
  • Sixpenny Handley War Memorial
  • Sixpenny Handley War Memorial
  • Sixpenny Handley War Memorial

Links to related web content / sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives