Private Henry Coopey - 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment

[Ellen]

Private Henry Coopey (9733. 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment) was my great uncle and he died (aged 18) in a German prisoner of war camp in Kriegs-notizbuch (my father gave me this spelling and it may be incorrect).  He wrote letters home to his mother telling of his plight (he lost both legs) and these letters we still have.  He died a week or so later and is commemorated on a special memorial (28) in Courtral (St Jean) cemetary in Belgium but apparently this is not where he is buried.  My father has tried with little success to find out where his grave is.
Is he likely to be succesful, especially since many records were destroyed in the blitz?

[Valda]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website which lists the details of Henry Coopey states of KORTRIJK (ST. JAN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY

'There are now 221 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 11 of the burials are unidentified, and there are special memorials to more than 30 casualties who died in 1914-15 and were buried in the Germans plot but whose graves could not be found....

Courtrai (now Kortrijk) was in German hands for most of the First World War.'

Therefore it would seem the records for the burials would only be German records and I'm sure the Commonwealth War Graves Commission did after the First World War try to identify the whereabouts of the 30 British casualties buried by the Germans amongst the German graves. The information does appear to state that Henry was believed to be buried in the cemetery, so the CWGC must have found some records to that effect, even though they were not able to pinpoint his exact grave.

COOPEY, HENRY
Initials: H
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Gloucestershire Regiment
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 18
Date of Death: 28/01/1915
Service No: 9733
Additional information: Son of Henry and Esther Coopey, of 35, Morton St., Gloucester.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sp. Mem. 28.
Cemetery: KORTRIJK (ST. JAN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY

Have you contacted the CWGC? Really if they don't know, nobody does - that after all is what they do and what they were established for.

http://www.cwgc.org/

Regards

Valda

[Ellen]

Many thanks Valda.  I believe that my father did contact the CWGC, which is where he got the above information from.  Still, thanks for your reply.

[manchester regt]

the CWGC didnt bury any soldiers in ww1,the army did that,the CWGC are only chartered to care for and maintain the graves in their care,their website is not part of their charter but they set it up to aid people in their search for loved ones,your g/father is buried in the cemetery,but they cant locate the exact position,so a special memorial was erected,the germans buried many allied POWs without keeping a record of their graves,many were not even marked,mack

[Ellen]

Thanks Mack and Valda, this all makes much more sense to me now.  My father got a little confused, he seemed to think that Henry Coopey was a prisoner of war in Germany and that being the case I couldn't understand why he was commemorated in a Belgium cemetary.  It makes sense now knowing that Belgium was in German hands.  He has a couple of letters from Henry Coopey, written to his mother whilst he was in POW hospital.  It tells of how he lay on the battle field for many days in agony - it is very moving and had my daughter in tears.  I feel that this poor lad, who died at 18, should have his story told.  Maybe his photo, which we have, and his letters should be posed on some website for the world to see.
Thanks again.

[Valda]

I am sending the details of my great uncle, including his last letter home to the Passchendaele Museum which has requested soldiers details

http://www.passchendaele.be/eng/archivesEN.html

this would not be relevant for your great uncle because this museum commerated the battle of Passchendaele in 1917 but I am sure there are other museums who would be interested. The Imperial War Museum website

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/prisoners/essay.asp

I'm sure other people can suggest other possibilities.

Regards

Valda

[OldBraggs]

Cheltenham & Gloster Graphic 27 Feb. 1915 (just in case you don't have it)

Steve

[Ellen]

Many thanks, Steve.  I believe that my father does have that photo but thank you for sending posting it.  For anyone interested I am attempting to post a letter that Henry Coopey wrote before he was taken prisoner.  It is very hard to read in places so I have written it out as follows -

Dear Mother and Father
Just these few lines hoping this will find you all in the best of health as it leaves me in the pink at present.  Dear Mother I do not know whether you have wrote but I have not received one yet.  I have wrote 4 or 5 letters and PC.  Would you mind sending me some Woodbines as we cannot get any here.  We have been having some fine weather up until now.  I hope all have got plenty of work at home.
Well I think I have said all for the present.
I remain your loving son Harry. xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Ellen]

Just following on for anyone who might be interested.
Henry Coopey was captured in November 1914.  My late great aunt (one of his sisters) told my father that  Henry was injured in both legs and likely had them amputated.  He wrote from hospital in November and died of his wounds on 28 January 1915.  Clearly he suffered for quite some time and he was only 18!
His writing is hard to make out, not surprisingly, but it reads as follows -

"I got wounded on 6th of Nov and went into hospital on 15 Nov and I am still in here now but I hope I shall soon be leaving."

Sadly he didn't leave there alive.