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Frederick Coole Frederick Coole was born on 26 July 1895 and baptised a day later at St Mary's. His parents, William Coole (a castrator) and Lydia Harriet Camm, had married in the parish of St James, Gloucester almost four years earlier, but they soon settled at Denfurlong, one of the farms belonging to the Estate. Before the war Fred worked on the farm as a shepherd, but unlike his eldest brother, William, he was not exempt from conscription, and he and his younger brother, Robert Edgar both served in the war.
Fred Coole enlisted as a private on 27 March 1916 at Bristol, and his record shows the 'fog of war' from the outset. Although Bristol was a depot of the Gloucestershire Regiment, he was posted next day to the Somerset Light Infantry, then attached two days later to the 13th (Reserve) Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment, and formally transferred on 13 May. After training (the 13th Battalion became the 46th Training Reserve Battalion on 1 September) he was posted on 28 October to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force based at Salonika where he joined the 11th (Reserve) Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment as a machine gunner; much later, from April 1918, he was attached to the Machine Gun Corps. His combat operations would have been against Bulgarian, Austro-Hungarian and/or German opposition around the area where Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria meet. In the Balkan theatre field conditions were as tough as anywhere and Fred had frequent spells in hospital; during June-October 1917 (illness or injury), in June-July 1918 (malaria) and again in October (dysentery). Nevertheless, he remained in theatre and his service did not end at the Armistice for he was soon attached to the 2nd Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. On 3 January 1919 he sailed to Batoum on the Black Sea coast of Russia (now Batumi, Georgia) en route to Tiflis (now Tbilisi), as part of the British support for the White Russian forces in their actions against the Reds. However, while on sentry duty about 1 March, he tripped over a railway line and cut a finger which became deeply infected. By 25 March Fred was making his way home via Batoum and Salonika and on 29 May was demobilised. He was later awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal, and his service is commemorated on the plaque in the village hall. On 20 May 1929 he married Helen Gertrude Tudor at St Mary's and they farmed at Alkerton, Eastington. Frederick Coole died on 20 September 1976 and is buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Frampton. |