54545 Private Harry Boocock was a Northumberland Fusilier who escaped the horrors of the First World War, only to die in a freak accident at home.
Harry (the present Harry Boocock’s uncle, after whom he was named) was 26 when he came home on leave. On July 18th 1918, he and his brother Harold (this could get confusing!) were working in the family’s fields at Low Farm, Gerrick, when it came on to rain. It was a sudden fierce thunderstorm, and they sheltered in the lee of a stone wall. There was a strand of barbed wire along the top to deter cattle, and it was struck by lightning. The charge passed through the two men, killing Harry outright, and severely injuring Harold, who was burned on the head and back. Harry was buried in St.Mary’s Churchyard, and his grave is marked with a military gravestone.
So why isn’t he mentioned on the stone in the Memorial Hall? Well, there are subtle distinctions to be made here. He died during the War, but not in the War. He wasn’t lost as a result of fighting or enemy action, and so didn’t ‘die for his country’ in the accepted sense. But he was a serving soldier when he died, and so merited a military grave, and this is no way lessens his sacrifice and the sadness of his death.
This serves to remind us that so many sad stories come from wartime, and Harry wasn’t the only person to survive battles, only to be lost to some comparatively trivial accident once apparently ‘safe’.