Bertie Charles Emmerson

Rank: Corporal

Service Number: 1287

Date of Birth: 1892

Regiment: A Coy, 1/5th Suffolk Regiment

Date of Death: 12 Aug 1915

Age at death: 25

Cemetery / Memorial: Helles Memorial

Country: Gallipoli, Turkey

Grave / Reference: Panel 46 and 47

Relatives: Son of Mary Ann Emmerson

Address: 19 New Cut, Hadleigh

Bertie was born in Hadleigh in 1892. The 1911 Census report him living at home with his mother, Mary Ann and siblings at 19 New Cut, Hadleigh. At that time he was employed as an Boot Repairer. We are not exactly sure when he enlisted into the army, but it seems like many other young men from Hadleigh, Bertie joined the local territorial battalion, the 5th Battalion the Suffolk Regiment. If we assume that Bertie had joined the battalion before war broke out then we know that he would have been mobilised on the night of the 4th/5th August 1914.

Once mobilised the 1st/5th Suffolks spent a number of months carrying out home service tasks. At that time territorial units were liable for home service only and were not required to deploy overseas. However, when it became apparent that more troops would be needed for overseas service, the men of the battalion were asked to volunteer. After giving this some serious thought, 72% of the men volunteered and the battalion was redesigned 1st/5th Suffolk Regiment. Those who opted to stay on home service duties only, became the 2nd/5th Suffolks.

These are Bertie's medals.  They were bought by a Hadleigh based collector along with Bertie's memorial plaque. — These are Bertie's medals. They were bought by a Hadleigh based collector along with Bertie's memorial plaque.

The 1st/5th Suffolks completed their training and preparation and were re-equipped for service in the eastern theatre. They embarked along with the rest of 163 Brigade and the 54 Eastern Division at the end of July from Liverpool bound for Gallipoli. They arrived and went ashore at Suvla Bay on 10th August 1915 and were quickly moved forward and by midday on the 12th were manning the forward trenches on the Anafarta Plain. At 4pm they were ordered forward as part of a 163 Brigade operation to clear the Plain of snipers in preparation for a much larger Divisional operation that was planned for the following day. The battalion was on the left of the brigade line and 'A' Company made up of Hadleigh men were in the first wave. There was at least 75 Hadleigh men involved and this was a true baptism of fire. They were told it would be a straight forward advance to mop up the odd sniper, but in reality they faced a determined and ruthless enemy. The enemies intimate knowledge of the ground was key. They sniped the Suffolks who could not see the firing points and even if they could, they had no artillery support to combat the snipers. In addition, the Turks made best use of their own artillery which ultimately halted the Brigades advance. The Suffolks fell back to a shallow river bed / ditch where they formed the new front line. A few days later they were relieved and returned to the reserve trenches where they discovered that the attack had cost them dearly; 11 Officers and 178 Other Ranks were killed, wounded or missing. Although official records suggest that many of the Suffolks went missing on or after the 21st Aug, we now believe that they were actually lost during the advance on the 12th.

In 2002 a new housing estate was built in Hadleigh. A number of the houses on the estate were allocated as military quarters for service personnel serving in the area. During the planning phase for this development it was decided that since the estate would have a military connection, that the street names would be named after local military heroes. Emerson Way was named after Cpl Bertie Charles Emmerson.

On that day, at least 16 men from Hadleigh were killed. Due to the nature of the fighting, their bodies were never recovered from the battlefield until the early 1920s. By then the remains were unrecognisable and could not be identified. The remains were most likely buried in Azmak Commonwealth War Grave Commission cemetery in an unmarked grave. This cemetery is in the area were the Suffolks held the front line. Their names are commemorated on the impressive Helles Memorial which stands on the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsular.