Herbert George Bryant

Story:
Herbert George Bryant was born on 26th January, 1894, in Kilmington, Wiltshire, and baptised at St. Mary's Church, Kilmington, on 3rd February, 1895. He was the son of James Bryant, a shepherd, and Elizabeth Bryant née Dodington. His siblings included Henry James Bryant (b.1891) who served and died in the war and also Reginald Sidney Bryant (b. 1898) who served and survived. At the time of the 1911 Census Herbert (then known as Bertie) was single, working as a shepherd and living with his grandfather, Andrew Bryant, in Shrewton, Wiltshire.

On 18th June 1915 he enlisted at Dorchester as a Private in the 7th (2nd Reserve) Battalion, 'B' Company of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 15040). He gave his residence on enlistment as Halfpenny Cottage, Ashmore. Within a few weeks of enlistment there would appear to have been a breakdown in his health and he was discharged on 22nd Jan 1916 as "no longer fit for War Service". He was granted a pension on the grounds that his condition was "aggravated by service since the declaration of war". He died at Ashmore, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 22nd January 1918 and was buried there on 26th January, 1918, in the churchyard at St. Nicholas' Church, Ashmore. There is no mention of his burial in the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, but he is remembered on the Ashmore War Memorial, Shaftesbury.