Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Private 2932, C Company, 3rd Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)

Frank Saltmarsh (junior) was born in Berkhamsted in 1894, the second child of Frank and Mary Jane Saltmarsh. His father Frank was a carpenter and a bellrunger at St Peter’s Church. Frank (junior) had an older siser, Florence, who was born in 1891.

The 1901 and 1911 census tell us that Frank and Mary, together with Florence and Frank (junior) were living in Doctor’s Commons Road. The later electoral rolls and the 1939 Register give us the name of the house, Hythe.

In his teens, Frank (junior), like his grandfather Alfred, worked as a bootmaker. In September 1914, on the outbreak of World War I, Frank enlisted as a private in the 3rd London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). He went to Malta in late 1914 and from there to Egypt in April 1915.

Frank took part in the Gallipoli campaign and was killed in action on 15th November 1915, aged 21. His name is recorded on the Helles Memorial at Canakkale in Turkey (Panel 197-198) and also on the Berkhamsted war memorial.

When his father Frank senior died in 1940, he was buried in Rectory Lane cemetery, close to his own parents. A short inscription on the grave commemorates the sacrifice of young Frank:

Also Frank his son, lost in action, Gallipoli 1915 aged 21