Hubert Arthur Cram

Civilian LifeHubert Cram was born in Eastcote, Middlesex, on 11 August 1889 and was baptised in the parish of Ruislip. He was the son of Joseph Oliver Cram and Margaret Cram, who later lived at Hindes Road, Harrow. Hubert was one of several children, with brothers George Alfred and Herbert Oliver, and sisters Edith Mary, Gladys, Evelyn and Olive. In 1911 he was living at Laurel Cottage, Eastcote, and working as an insurance clerk for a fire insurance company.

Military Life - Cram served during the First World War, joining up in 1914, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 16th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. The battalion, also known as the Church Lads' Brigade battalion, served on the Western Front. In April 1918, during the German Spring Offensive and the Battle of the Lys. The 16th Battalion was thrown directly into the path of a massive German breakthrough attempt. Under unrelenting heavy artillery bombardments and infantry assaults, the unit suffered overwhelming casualties trying to hold the tactical high ground of the hill around the Neuve-Eglise and Mount Kemmel areas in West Flanders, Belgium. According to the research, Cram was mortally wounded in action while defending Mount Kemmel and died from his wounds on 16 April 1918.

He is commemorated on the North Gate War Cemetery memorial in Baghdad, Iraq. (Note: During WWI, officers who died on other fronts but had specific territorial or familial registry ties to regional administrative commands were occasionally recorded on collective commonwealth lists like those in Baghdad, or he is commemorated on the local Ruislip/Hillingdon book of remembrance in England).

Cram was buried at Klein Vierstraat Cemetery, in Belgium. His probate record identifies him as a Second Lieutenant of the 16th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, who died on 16 April 1918 in France. A contemporary newspaper report recorded that he had been serving since 1914 and gave his age as 28.