Harper, John Boughton

Age: 20
Date of birth: 28/05/1897

Parents: Charles and Ann Elizabeth Herper
Wife:
Address: 1 Humphris Street

Occupation: Had just left Warwick School

John was born in Rugby on 25th May 1897. He was baptised at St Andrew’s Church, Rugby on 20th August 1897.

By the 1911 census the family were living at 7 Humphris Street, Warwick. His father Charles was a Railway Engine Driver. There were three out of five surviving children, an older sister Annie and a younger sister Honor.  John was a very able child and he won a scholarship from Coten End School to attend Warwick School where he excelled. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps.  From the newspaper article it appears that John had intended to study at Cambridge University.  He didn’t fulfil his potential because he enlisted on 2nd August 1916, 3 days after leaving school.

These two notices appeared in the Warwick Advertiser on November 27th 1917

Military Service

Rank & Number: Second Lieutenant, 177164
Regiment/Service: 7th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
Brigade/Division: 51st Brigade, 17th Division
Date of death: Friday, October 12, 1917
Cause of death/Battle: Killed in Action - First Battle of Passchendaele
Commemorated/Buried: Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium
Awards: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Commemorated locally at: All Saints Church, Warwick School

For some reason John’s name appears twice on Warwick War Memorial – once on the main 1917 panel and again on a side panel, added some time later

Contributors

  • Unlocking Warwick Research Group
  • Warwick Advertiser Excerpt courtesy of Warwickshire County Records Office
  • Gervald Frykman – Warwick School Archivist

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