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is likely that he was in the 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment
when he was posted to Italy. They were there from November
1917 until April 1918 when they returned to France.
After the war he married Edna Sutton at Bourne. He was living
at Deeping St James when he died in 1962, leaving £279.12.
HARKER John Valentine
Private G/13733 1st Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey
Regiment)
John was born in 1887 in Kings Cliffe, his parents being Henry
and Sarah Harker of West Street, Kings Cliffe.
John was the Harkers’ third son. He worked as a railway
labourer and in 1914 he married Sarah Sauntson, also from a
Kings Cliffe family.
They had a daughter Mary in 1915 who married Leonard
Hercock in 1940.
It is not clear when John joined up, but he was not in the lists
of men who answered Kitchener’s call in 1914. When he did,
he was posted to the 1st Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West
Surrey) Regiment. The 1st Battalion was a Regular Army
battalion and was one of the first to be involved in the early 1914
battles. There were 998 men in the 1st Battalion and by the end
of the first week of November 1914 only 32 survived.
At the end of the war only 17 of the original group survived.
It is likely that John was brought in to make up some of
these tremendous losses. The Queens were heavily involved
in the bloody battle of the Menin Road. This started on 20th
September 1917 and finished on 25th Sept. One report states
on the 25th “the front platoons of the Queens were annihilated
in the attack”. During that five-day period British casualties were
20,255 of which 3,148 were killed.
John Valentine Harker was one of those unfortunates.
The Stamford & Rutland News of 21st November 1917 reports:-
“Kings Cliffe. Missing – Private J Harker, Surrey Regiment, of Kings
Cliffe, has been reported missing. Mrs Harker has received a letter
stating that Private Harker was reported missing after his Battalion
91
when he was posted to Italy. They were there from November
1917 until April 1918 when they returned to France.
After the war he married Edna Sutton at Bourne. He was living
at Deeping St James when he died in 1962, leaving £279.12.
HARKER John Valentine
Private G/13733 1st Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey
Regiment)
John was born in 1887 in Kings Cliffe, his parents being Henry
and Sarah Harker of West Street, Kings Cliffe.
John was the Harkers’ third son. He worked as a railway
labourer and in 1914 he married Sarah Sauntson, also from a
Kings Cliffe family.
They had a daughter Mary in 1915 who married Leonard
Hercock in 1940.
It is not clear when John joined up, but he was not in the lists
of men who answered Kitchener’s call in 1914. When he did,
he was posted to the 1st Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West
Surrey) Regiment. The 1st Battalion was a Regular Army
battalion and was one of the first to be involved in the early 1914
battles. There were 998 men in the 1st Battalion and by the end
of the first week of November 1914 only 32 survived.
At the end of the war only 17 of the original group survived.
It is likely that John was brought in to make up some of
these tremendous losses. The Queens were heavily involved
in the bloody battle of the Menin Road. This started on 20th
September 1917 and finished on 25th Sept. One report states
on the 25th “the front platoons of the Queens were annihilated
in the attack”. During that five-day period British casualties were
20,255 of which 3,148 were killed.
John Valentine Harker was one of those unfortunates.
The Stamford & Rutland News of 21st November 1917 reports:-
“Kings Cliffe. Missing – Private J Harker, Surrey Regiment, of Kings
Cliffe, has been reported missing. Mrs Harker has received a letter
stating that Private Harker was reported missing after his Battalion
91
