John James Kerridge

A Private with 7th Bn. John died on 12th of August 1916 at the age of 21. 

John was born at Cransford, Framlingham, Suffolk, in 1895, a son of Joseph William and Catherine Rebecca Kerridge. He was baptised at Saint Peter's Church, Cransford, on 20 October 1895. By 1901 his family were living at 83 Cambridge Road, Lowestoft, and by 1911 at 60 Saint Margaret's Road, and John, like his father, was a bootmaker. Later his parents lived at 15 Ipswich Road, Lowestoft. Note some civil records refer to John by his middle name, James. 

John enlisted in the Army at Lowestoft in early September 1914. He was on one of a number of Lowestoft men who had volunteered to join the Army and who enlisted into 7th Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). The 7th Battalion was part of the 18th (Eastern) Division and was based in the Colchester area during the first few months of its formation. 

John went to France with the 7th Battalion, arriving there on 28 July 1915. From 9 August 1916 the Battalion were in trenches near Bois Grenier. The Battalion's War Diary for 12 August 1916 has:

Quiet day and very hot. At 11.10 a.m. enemy put twelve 4.2 c.m. shells on apparently ranging on Trench 51, the first of these set some hay near Water Farm alight.
Between 10 p.m. and twelve midnight enemy artillery and trench mortars were active on subsector on our right.

A brief note in the East Anglian Daily Times, 21 August 1916, page 6, records that John was killed whilst on duty on a listening post. 

The War Diary does not mention any casualties, but it is likely that John was killed by the shell-fire. Walter Cook, also from Lowestoft, was also killed on 12 August 1916 whilst serving with the 7th Battalion.