William John Ashley Fry
William was born in Cogan or Penarth in 1893. In 1911 he was working as a coupler on the railway and was a visitor at 13 Fitzroy St, Cathays, the home of Sidney & Mary Veysey. He served in “C” Company, 75th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery with the rank of Driver (service number 25314) having enlisted in Penarth. William died on 15th September 1915 when he was accidentally suffocated in a sand pit, and is buried in plot IV. D. 75, Bethune Town Cemetery. The relatives were informed by Driver W Leddington and Gunner Beer, both of Penarth (from ‘Penarth Times’). From the ‘Penarth Times’ dated 4th December 2014 from the ‘This Day in History’ column there is a letter from W Leddington, W Fry, A Price (from Llandough), G Selby, J Norman and F Beer about their life in the Army. Part of the letter reads ‘We are glad to say that we are all teetotallers, which makes all the difference when shooting, as they are very steady. The Penarth boys here offer many thanks for the cigarettes that were sent to us, as it gives us more encouragement in our work. …We hope our fellow brothers at the top Fort and at Lavernock are in the “pink” and are keeping a good look-out for any chance Germans which are likely to try and pass.’