404260 Private Ernest Bateup was the son of James and Louisa Bateup, of 1, Alexandra Terrace, Mayfield, Sussex, England. He served with the 3^rd Battalion (Central Ontario) Regiment of the Canadian Infantry and died from shell fire whilst on sentry duty on the 29th December 1915, aged 23.

Ernest was a Mayfield man through and through. He was born on the 30th December 1892 in Mayfield and lived the majority of his life there. His father, James, was a Mayfield born farm labourer and domestic gardener living in Alexandra Terrace. In 1911 he was recorded as being a single man working as a shop assistant. Between then and 1915 he had obviously travelled to Canada, as he enlisted in Toronto on the 8^th April 1915, describing his profession at the time as a mechanic.

He is described as being 5 ft 8 in tall, with grey eyes and light brown hair. His chest measurement was 34 inches and he was in good physical health.

According to his Canadian service records he had transferred to the 3rd Battalion (from the 35th) in November 1915 and had only been in France for about two months when he was killed by shell fire.

He was paid at the rate of $10 per month, so on his death he had earned a total of $60, but taking account of items he had bought “on credit” with the army, a balancing sum of $32 was paid to his father.

Ernest’s older brother, Herbert Bateup, was sadly killed later in the war in 1917.

Ernest is buried at the Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, Belgium. Grave Reference: I. E. 15.

[Some content from the British Legion article, image from Kent & Sussex Courier, 25th February 1916.]

Born: 30 Dec 1892;

Former Svc: Nil;

Religion: Church of England;

Trade: Mechanic;

Date of attestation: 8 Apr 1915;

Died: 29 [28] Dec 1915.

Timeline of service:

• 1915, 8 Apr joined 35^th Bn CEF, Toronto;
• 1915, 27 Oct, TOS 3^rd Bn CEF;
• 1915, 29 Dec, killed by shell while on sentry duty in trenches north east of Wulverghem (Messines Sector) in retaliatory shelling between 3.30-5.30 p.m. on December 28th.

He is remembered in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial here.

You can see his complete war records here

Ernest is also remembered by CWO (ret) Shaun Kelly who has held his coin of remembrance since 2002.