BRAY Frederick James

F.J. Bray 1st/1st Worcester Yeomanry, 1st Draft, embarked at Devonport 23rd October 1915 for service with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, disembarked at Mudros 6th November 1915, disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt on 30th November 1915. Killed in action on 23rd April 1916.

Source for additional information: The Yeomanry Cavalry of Worcestershire 1914 – 1922.

Frederick Bray was born in Powick in 1893, one of 12 children of James and Selina Bray (nee Bradley) who had married in 1873. The family moved to Worcester sometime after 1895 and by 1901 they were living in Barn Close Walk, St John’s where they remained for many years. By the time of the 1911 census, James and Selina had been married 39 years and 4 of their 12 children had died. Residing with them at 6 Barn Close was their daughter Miriam aged 24 who was employed as a housemaid (domestic), their son Frederick aged 17 who was an apprentice china painter at Worcester porcelain works, their son Harold Bertram Bray aged 13 who was still at school but also took work as a baker’s boy and their granddaughter, Minnie Gibbs aged 7.

In 1914, Frederick married Lilian M. Barnett in Worcester sometime during the December quarter and the birth of a son, Leonard, is registered in the June quarter 1915 under the Upton registration district. After enlisting in the Worcestershire Yeomanry, Frederick was sent with his battalion in November 1915 to take part in the final stages of the campaign in the Balkans. After withdrawing from Gallipoli in December 1915 the battalion returned to Egypt. They were to form part of the defence of the Suez Canal and it was here on Easter Sunday, 23rd April 1916, that they came under a ferocious onslaught from Turkish troops. Frederick Bray was killed in action during the attack.

The same photograph of Sergeant/Corporal F.J. Bray can be found in Berrow’s Worcester Journal Supplement, Saturday 13th May 1916 and Saturday 26th August 1916, available at Worcestershire Archives.