205404 Private Barner Laver British Army 3rd Bn. attached. 2nd Bn Essex Regiment from:Billericay, Essex (d.22nd June 1917) There is no story - there cannot be. The man who would have been my Great Uncle didn't make it through. As a child I "inherited" his medals, the 'plaque' for his grave and the letters of thanks from the Palace. For many years these intrigued me until at last old enough to venture further afield on my own I set out for Billericay and discovered his name on the War Memorial. Research was not easy when I was younger and trips to St Katherines House to learn more foundered. The advent of the internet and my surprising ability to grasp it's techniques led to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission pages and the surprising information that Great Uncle had been quite close all the time having been interred at Felixstowe, Suffolk. Why Felixstowe? I think his Battalion of the Essex Regiment may have had a base in the area thus the wounded may have been afforded local burials. But why not take his body the relatively short distance back into Essex and to his home town? Maybe the cost was prohibitive or possibly the family were "annoyed" that this young man had gone off to war, perhaps against their desires. We will never know - the last person who could possibly have shed light on these times (my Grand Father - Barner's Brother) died in the 1960's even before my medal "inheritance" started my curious mind off on it's search. I am glad that I found Uncle and have been to visit his grave to "let him know" about the family that he could never have met. I often think about him even though I know so little about him.
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