Henry was born Henry Allsop. He was baptized at The Parish Church of Saint Giles' Haughton on the 18 th October 1899 the son of a Single Woman, Emily Allsop. At the time she was a servant at Shippey Farm, Haughton . Emily was herself born to a Single Woman Emma Allsop in 18 85. Emma married Richard Hill in Bradeley in 1887. In 1891 Emily was living at Bradley at her Grandmother , Maria Allsop ’s house. Also at the ho use a re Richard Hill and his wife Emma, Emi ly’s moth er. In 1901 Henry is living with his Grandfather Richard James Hill at Chetwynd Aston. However , in 1904, he appears on the school register at Moreton School as Henry Hill with guardian named as Richard Hill. His date of birth is given as 21 st September 1899. Also attending are two more of the family . Alice and Herbert John Hill (Although enrolling together , Alice and Herbert a re Henry’s Aunt and Uncle). In 191 1, aged 11, Henry is still living with the family at Summer Houses, Befcote. There appears to be no more information for Henry despite consider able research by Gnosall Heritage members . We believe Henry signed up using his adopted name Henry Hill with the South Staf fordshire Regiment with Service Number: 240706,1st/6th Bn., South Staffordshire Reg iment . He died on 1 st July 1916. Remembered with Honour , Thiepval Memorial, France, Pier and Face 7 B. His army record has not survived. His medal card shows he arrived in France on 28th June 1915, was awarded 1914/15 Star , British W ar and V ictory Medals and was killed in action on 1st J uly 1916. It also recor ded an earlier army number 3228.

Henry Hill

Pri v ate 240706 – 1 st /6 th South Staf fordshi re Regi me nt Ki l led in Ac tion 1 st J ul y 1916 – aged17 Remember ed wi t h Honou r , T hi epv al Mem orial

Thiep val Me mo rial

History informa tion On 1 July 1916, supported by a Frenc h attack to the sout h, t hirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommec ourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the Ger man defences were barely touched and the attack met unex pectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only mini mal advances on the southern fl ank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment w ere deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day . However , the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September , Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July . Attacks north and eas t continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Bat tle of the Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of win te r . In the spring of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly pre pared defenc es, the Hindenburg Line, and there were no furth er significant engagements in the Somme s ector until the Germans mounted their major of fensive in March 1918. The Thiepval Memorial , the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme s ec tor bef ore 20 March 1918 and have no know n grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. The memorial als o serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery contai ning equal numbers of Commonw ealth and Fre nch graves lies at the foot of the me morial. The memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens , was built between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince of W ales, in the presence of the President of France, on 1 August 1932 (originally scheduled for 16 May but due to the death of Frenc h Presid ent Do umer the ceremony was postponed until August). The dead of other Commonwealth countries, who died on the Somme and hav e no know n graves, are commemorated on national memorials elsewhere .