SPEED H S

SPEED, Harold Stanley

Regiment: 13th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers

Rank: Private

Number: 238104

Died: 31 August 1918

Aged: 21

Buried/ Memorial: Morval British Cemetery, France

Address: 9 Pickering Street, Hoole

Chester Chronicle 21 September 1918

PTE. H.S. SPEED, HOOLE (KILLED)

“News has been received of the death in action of Pte. Harold Stanley Speed, 238104 R.W.F., whose home is at Pickering Street, Hoole. Pte. Speed joined the Cyclist’s Corps in September 1915, at the age of 18. He served for two years in this country and was transferred to the Welsh Regt. With which he went to France in September, 1917. He was subsequently transferred to the R.W.F. and fell while serving with that regiment on the 1st September. Pte. Speed was 21 and before joining the army was employed by the Hydraulic Engineering Co. He was an old All Saint’s, Hoole boy. Writing to Pte. Speed’s mother, the captain of his company says, - “During the recent fighting the behaviour of your son was magnificent. He died during an attack on – on September 1st. It may be consolation to you in your great trouble to know that death was instantaneous, and that he died doing his duty, brave and fearless to the end. He was a splendid soldier, and was always ready to do his share of the great work.”

The 1911 Census shows Harold as a 13-year-old schoolboy living at 9 Pickering Street with father Albert, mother Hannah and brother Douglas.