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Cherbourg, Essex, Frederick Austin, Hertfordshire, Higher Grade School, medal cards, South Staffordshire Regiment, West Ham
Originally born in 1899 in Chelmsford, in Essex, Frederick Hubert Austin was educated at the Higher Grade School in Wolverhampton, hence he is included on our blog.
His parents were Frederick North Austin and Sarah Ellen Austin (nee Hawkins). In 1901 he was living at 123 Angel Lane Bridge, West Ham, with his parents as well as his father’s brother, William Edgar Austin. By 1911 the family had moved to Springfield Villas, 70 New Town Road, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire. Frederick’s father was listed as an insurance agent, originally from Bilston.
In February 1915, Frederick enlisted in the South Staffordshire Regiment, by which point the family had moved again to 2275, Coleman Street in Wolverhampton. His medal card indicates that he was later transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Essex Regiment, where he became a Second Lieutenant. Poor Frederick died a day after Armistice Day on 12 November 1918 of pneumonia while in Rest Camp at Cherboug. He was only 19 years old. He is buried in the Tourlaville Communal Cemetery and Extension in France.
Wolverhampton's War 
Pneumonia at that time suggests he was a victim of the Spanish flu epidemic
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