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L/Cpl. Oliver James Quinnell
British Army 2nd Battalion East Kent Buffs
from:34 Bowes Road Strood Kent
(d.9th Feb 1915)
Oliver James Quinnell served as a Lance Corporal with, 2nd Bn., the Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He was the son of Albert and Harriett Quinnell of 34 Bowes Road, Strood, Kent. Oliver enlisted in the regular army on 18th August 1908 at the age of 20 years. In the 1911 census he was said to have been in registration district 641 which is in the India and Singapore region. I understand that he embarked for England from Bombay on 16th of November 1914, landing at Plymouth on 23rd December, then moving to Winchester and joined the 85th Brigade of the 28th Division, possibly camped at Magdalen Camp, Pitt Hill, Winchester.
On 17th January 1915, he was mobilised for war and landed at Le Havre and engaged in various actions on the Western Front. He was then then engaged in trench digging. The trenches were in bad condition and many of the soldiers were standing in thick mud and water. Oliver was only in France for a short time. He was killed on 9th of February 1915 and his name is remembered with honour on the Menin Gate in Ypres.
