CURZON

		Sources
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents	Mrs. Curzon			7c	6
Where born	Oldham, Lancashire		Yes		6
When born	About 1897				4
Address	33, Spiceal Street, Uttoxeter			7c	6
Spouse
Children
Employment Before Joining up	Leighton Ironworks			7c	6
Where enlisted	Uttoxeter		Yes		6
Regiment	North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales’s)	Yes	Yes	7a	1, 6
Unit	1^st/6^th Bn.	Yes	Yes
	1/6^th (T.F.) Bn				6
	‘B’ Company				1
Rank	Private	Yes	Yes	7a, 7b, 7c	1, 6
Service Number	1812	Yes	Yes		1, 6
Date of Death	13 October 1915	Yes	Yes		1, 6
Age at time of death	18			7c	6
Where Killed or died	France/Flanders: Loos - Hohenzollern Redoubt				6
How he died	Missing, presumed killed			7c
How he died	Killed in action		Yes		6
Location of Grave or Memorial	Loos Memorial for the Missing - Panel 104	Yes			5
Location of Grave or Memorial	Uttoxeter Town War Memorial				6
Awards

Before the war Harold was employed at the Leighton Ironworks in Uttoxeter^6, ^7c. This was the precursor of the modern JCB company and they produced agricultural machinery.

Harold was an only-son^{6, 7c} and belonged to the local Territorial Company when the war broke out^7c. He lived with his mother at 33, Spiceal Street, Uttoxeter. Unfortunately, neither the house nor the street still exist, so we cannot include a picture of either.

He was one of the first of the Uttoxeter men to go to war; he left Uttoxeter with the Uttoxeter contingent of the 1^st/6^th North Staffordshire Regiment on the 6^th of August 1914^{6, 7a}, just two days after the outbreak of war. . As such, he is counted amongst the special set of men who later became known as the “Old Contemptibles”.

Given that he was still only 18 when he was killed in October 1915^7c, he will have been only 17 when he first went to the front. The legal minimum age for service abroad at this time was 19. Hence he was not only one of the “Old Contemptibles”, but also one of Britain’s Boy Soldiers.

The Uttoxeter Advetrtiser^7c said that he was ‘always of a bright and cheerful disposition'.

Harold was underage for active service abroad when he took part in the charge on the Hohenzollern Redoubt and went missing. Many Uttoxeter men were killed in the charge and the 13^th of October 1915 was Uttoxeter’s worst single day of the war for fatalities, It marked a turning point in the townsfolk’s attitude to the war, when thoughts that the war was exciting and glorious made way for shock and grief.

In common with so many who died that day, his body was not recovered and he was reported “Missing – believed killed” in November 1915.

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial for the Missing.