Ball Harry Douglas

BALL, HARRY DOUGLAS

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents
Where born
When born	About 1892
Address	Golden Ball Yard, Uttoxeter			1a
Spouse	Mabel
Children					5
Employment Before Joining up
Where Enlisted
Former Regiment and unit	Royal Scots			1a	3
Regiment	Royal Sussex Regiment	Yes
	Royal Sussex Regiment Labour Corps				3
	Attached to the Royal Sussex Regiment			1a
Unit	17th Bn
Rank	Private	Yes		1a
Service Number	G/30564 (Royal Sussex Regiment)				3
	251240 (Royal Scots)				3
	577832 (Labour Corps)				3
Date of Death	17 Feb 1919	Yes		1a
Age at time of death	27			1a
Where Killed or died	England
How he died	Illness - Pnemonia			1a
Location of Grave or Memorial	Uttoxeter Cemetery - Grave New. 2. 1451.	Yes
Awards	Victory Medal – Roll E/2/101B11 Page 2346				3
Awards	British Medal – Roll E/2/101B11 Page 2346				3

Photograph with thanks to Susan Ball

Harry’s full name is given as Harry Douglas Ball by the BMD Record for October to December 1889.

According to the Uttoxeter Advertiser’s obituary, Harry lived at Golden Ball Year, Uttoxeter. Unfortunately this no longer exists, but it was on the site of what is now the main town car park. Today this are has been this area has been built on again with Edwardian style town houses.

Harry joined the Royal Scots Regiment with Service Number 251240 and was subsequently attached to the Labour Corps with Service number 577832. Finally he was transferred to the Royal Sussex Regiment with Service number G/30564.

The circumstances under which Harry Ball died are very sad.

He had served in France/Flanders for about 18 months and survived the war. He was then demobilised on 6th February 1919 and transported home in extremely cold conditions, leading to his coming down with a ‘cold’, which turned to pneumonia. He died at his home in Uttoxeter at just 27 years old.

We wonder whether it was actually the Spanish Influenza rather than a cold that led to his demise?

Harry does not appear in the Soldiers Died in the Great War database, possibly because he died so long after the end of the war.

This was a very bad period for his mother because her husband (his father - see James Ball) had died only a short time beforehand, having been invalided out of the army with shellshock.

Harry is buried in Uttoxeter Cemetery.

He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British Medal.