Henry Hampton – Grenadier Guards, 3rd Battalion

Private Henry Hampton – Grenadier Guards, 3^rd Battalion

Early Life

Henry Hampton

William Henry Hampton and Elizabeth Cyphus
marriage certificate
Parish of Great Rissington, Gloucestershire

Henry Hampton was born in 1894 at Bampton, Oxfordshire, the son of William Henry Hampton and Elizabeth Cyphus, who had married in 1885 at the parish church of Great Rissington, Gloucestershire.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Hampton family lived at Lavender Square Cottage, Brompton, Oxfordshire. William, aged 38, was employed as a postman, and his wife Elizabeth was 34. The children present in the household were Maud C. (13), Henry (7), Charles W. (5), and Florence W. (2).

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, Henry had moved to 31 Adam Street, Cardiff, where he was living in the household of Samuel Boyce, a baker, and his family. Then aged 19, Henry was employed in the baking trade, recorded as a “Baker Help Make & Delivery.” He later continued in the same occupation, working at John Jones and Son, Castleton.

Marriage

In 1916, Henry married Bessie M. Phillips.

Military Service and Death

Henry later enlisted and served as a Private with the 3^rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards during the First World War. In late November 1917, his battalion was engaged in the Battle of Cambrai, a major British offensive remembered for its large-scale and coordinated use of tanks, infantry, and artillery. The attack initially achieved dramatic success, breaking through German defensive lines and advancing rapidly.

As the battle reached its later stages, the Guards Division, which included the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, was involved in heavy fighting around positions near Bourlon Ridge and nearby villages. The landscape, worsening weather, and intense enemy fire turned the conflict into a difficult and costly struggle. By 27^th November 1917, the advances were stalling, and the battle’s main phase was drawing to a close. British forces, including the Grenadier Guards, were still holding and consolidating newly-captured positions and sustaining casualties in the process.

Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects

Henry Hampton
Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France
credit - findagrave

According to the Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, records, the death of Private Henry Hampton was “presumed” on 27^th November 1917, suggesting uncertainty regarding the exact circumstances. His death aligns with the period of severe and confused fighting around Bourlon Ridge, when many men became missing with no identifiable grave. He is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France, which bears the names of soldiers who died in the Cambrai operations and have no known resting place.