Pte 53064 Cyril Joseph Graham

• Age: 21
• From: Leicester
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• D.O.W Friday 27th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Etaples Mil Cem
  Panel Ref: VIII.E.1

Cyril Joseph was born in the September quarter of 1895 in Leicester, the son of James Graham and his wife Catherine (nee Welsh) who married in 1882. 

In 1901 the family is living at 84 Boundary Street, with nine children.

His father is a compositor/printer, Mary is 18, a shoe fitter, Catherine, 17, is a shoe machinist, John is 15, a tobacco cutter(?), Lilian, 14, is a skein twister, Helen is 12, James 10, Nora 8, Cyril is 5 and Benjamin 3.

The 1911 Census shows the family is still living at 84 Boundary Road Leicester.

His father, James, is aged 52, born 1859 and is employed as a Compositor Printer, whilst his mother is aged 52, born 1859 both in Leicester and they had been married for 29 years. They had eleven children, nine who survived and were all born in Leicester. They have five of the children still living with them at the time of the Census being taken. Lilian Harriet aged 24 born 1887 and Nellie aged 22, born 1889 both work in the Hosiery trade. Nora aged 18, born 1893 works in the Laundry profession as a Calander Hand, Cyril Joseph aged 15, occupation Feeder (Letterpress Printing) and Benjamin aged 13, born 1898 is at school. Also living with the Family are Aunt Elizabeth Ablin a retired Shoe-Fitter aged 78, born 1833 and adopted son Freddy Edge aged 6, born 1905 at school, both these were born in Leicester.

Cyril Joseph enlisted in Leicester and originally served as Private 23167 of the Leicester Regiment and was serving in the 20th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 53064 when he died of wounds on the 27th October 1916 aged 21 following the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

He now rests at Etaples Military, France.

During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway from both the northern or the southern battlefields. In 1917, 100,000 troops were camped among the sand dunes and the hospitals, which included eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick. In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals and the Q.M.A.A.C. convalescent depot remained.

The cemetery contains 10,771 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915. 35 of these burials are unidentified. It is the largest CWGC cemetery in France, and was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Cyril’s death was announced in the Leicester Daily Post on 4th November 1916: 

Cyril Joseph is also commemorated on the War Memorial at St James the Less, Aylestone. 

Leicester Daily Post 17th September 1918: “A postcard written on June 18 has been received by the parents of Pte. Ben Graham, Leicesters, to the effect that he is a prisoner of war in Germany.  He had been posted as missing since May 27th.  Previous to joining up he was employed by Messrs. Adams Bros. and Shardlowe’s, printers, Newarke Street.  His parents, who reside at 84 Boundary Road, now have two sons prisoners of war in Germany, whilst two others have already made the supreme sacrifice and lie buried in France.”