Private John Ernest Amery was born in Cheltenham on the 13th January 1896, the only son of John Whitfill Amery, a Builder's Clerk, and Lillie Ameilia Parker, of 31 All Saints Terrace, Cheltenham. He was educated at Dunalley School and Naunton Park School before attending Cheltenham Grammar School between January 1908 and December 1911, after which he worked as a Clerk at the Cheltenham Building Society. He enlisted in the 1/5th (Territorial) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment on the 14th September 1914 serving in France for 14 months prior to his death. In July 1916 the 1/5 Glosters were in the Somme sector near Ovillers-la-Boisselle. Between the 21st and the 29th July they made several attempts to take German defences known as Skyline Trench and throughout were bombarded day and night by enemy artillery. On the 23rd, Private Amery, serving in VII Platoon of B Company, was leaving the trenches for treatment having been wounded when he was struck by a shell and killed instantly. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and the Cheltenham Borough (Promenade) Cenotaph.
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