Frank Langley. Died 5th March 1917
Frank Langley was born in 1892 in Crowthorne, Berkshire; the last born with seven siblings, two brothers and five sisters. By the age of twenty, Frank had become a Cartage agent. On the 1911 Census he is living with his father and sister’s family as his mother, Caroline had died that year. Their home during all this time was in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
Frank joined the Royal Berks 2nd Battalion, but as it was a regular (pre war) unit we are not sure if he joined prior to the war or was conscripted in at a later date. Frank was killed on the 5th March 1917 in a major attack in the Somme region and The New York Times tells us of the story: “BRITISH CAPTURE ST. PIERRE WOOD; Advance Continues on Front of Over Two Miles North of the Somme. TROOPS ARE DRIVING EAST Germans Are Driven Out of Trenches Both North and South of the Wood. FRENCH ALSO MAKE GAIN Detachments Occupy Teuton Positions on Both Sides of Avre River. LONDON, March 16.–The British troops in the Somme region have occupied almost all of the St. Pierre Vaast Wood and 3,000 yards of German trenches north and south of the wood, according to the British official communication issued this evening”.
John Chapman, historian for the Royal Berks provides the following casualties:
Officers. Killed (2): Lieut. G. N. Parsons; 2nd-Lieut. J.A. Neaton Wounded (6): Capts. A. A. H. HanburySparrow, D.S.O. W.B. Scobell. Lieut. B. Haye. 2ndLieuts. H. S. Gunson, P. D. Harrison E.G. FaulknerSmith.
Other Ranks: Killed or Died of Wounds 63.Wounded 170. Missing 16.
Name: LANGLEY, FRANK Initials: F
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Berkshire Regiment Unit: 2nd Bn.
Date of Death: 05/03/1917
Service No: 37290
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 11 D. Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Crowthorne, Berkshire
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