Peterborough & The Great War

Biography

Cuthbert Fosbrooke was born in 1892, the son of The Reverend Arthur Middleton Fosbrooke (who went on to become Rector of Boldon, Hon. Canon of Durham and a Tutor at St. Chad’s College). He attended Newcastle-Under-Lyme High School and prior to the war Cuthbert was living with his parents in Hartshill Vicarage, working as an articled clerk to an accountant. He was not married.

Cuthbert started his wartime service as a Private in the Army Cyclist Corps, landing in France in February 1915. He signed the visitors’ book on 27 December 1916, recording that he was a Cadet at Newmarket, undergoing Officer Training with the Durham Light Infantry. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 24 January 1917, just a month after passing through Peterborough.

On 19 July 1917, Lieutenant Fosbrooke was killed in action while serving with the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry; he was 25 years old. The unit War Diary records very heavy shelling from 04.30am that morning, but specific casualty numbers for the day are not mentioned.  Research reveals that 2nd Lieutenant Fosbrooke is buried at Dickebusch New Military Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium. He is commemorated on the Hartshill War Memorial Stoke on Tent.

Cuthbert was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War and Allied Victory medals.

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