B. H. Winter
Service no. S/15614
Rifleman, Rifle Brigade, 13th Battalion
Enlisted in Lambeth; lived in Clapham
Killed in action on 11 April 1917, aged 27
CWGC: “Son of Mrs A. Winter, of 19 Prideaux Road, Landor Road, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Arras Memorial, France

British Army Service Records 1914-1920

Milkman (and former butcher) Bertram Horace Winter signed up at the Whitehall recruiting office on 15 February 1916. He lasted 273 days before he died at Arras on 11 April 1917. The details of his service are scant – we know that he embarked for the 3rd Battalion on 3 July 1916 and was posted to the 13th Battalion on 20 July. He stood 5 feet 4½ inches tall, with a 34½-inch chest (he could expand it by 2½ inches), and weighed a little over 8½ stone. His physical development was judged “good”. Bertram’s widowed mother Augusta was named as next of kin. She lived at 25 Viceroy Road, South Lambeth.

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Bertram Horace Winter was working as a butcher’s assistant. He lived at 147 Larkhall Lane, over the shop, with butcher Albert Henry and his wife Lydia Eliza Henry, both 41, a childless couple. Meanwhile, Bertram’s parents, William Charles Winter, 59, a paper hanger and house decorator and his wife Augusta Winter (née Sexton), 58, both Lambeth-born, lived at 31 Courland Grove, Stockwell. Of their 12 children, 7 survived, with four living at home: Frederick W. Winter, 28, a paper hanger and painter; Emily Elizabeth Winter, 26, a dress and mantle maker; Arthur Thomas Winter, 26, a paper hanger and painter; Walter Winter, 25, a porter for a tailor shop. All were born in Clapham. The Winter family had lived at this address since at least 1901.