Born 1889 in Corvallis Oregon, son of Charles Herbert (Agent for Steamship Company) and Florence Nash (nee Manico). Family lived in Canada/USA in the late 19th Century, coming then to Woodford where his younger brother Frederick was born in the summer of 1897. His father had a permanent address of 211 Ontario Street, Lincoln, Ontario, when he died at died at 127 High Road, Woodford Green on 20th March 1934.
1911: A Bank Clerk living with his family at “The Chestnuts” Woodford Green. Probate gives later address of “Mybank”, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill. An Old Bancroftian and member of the Woodford Wells Cricket Club.
He arrived in France on 17th March 1915. A good cricketer with a powerful throw, he was asked to fill a position in the Grenadier section of the Battalion. Just before Christmas in 1915 he took part in a night attack to regain a sap which had been captured. With their Officers and NCOs having been killed, the remaining raiders withdrew but Nash opted to return to the enemy lines. A report describes him standing on top of a trench throwing grenades until shrapnel from a German grenade struck him in the head. Killed in Action, he was buried where he fell. His actions may have been driven by the earlier loss of his brother, or the loss of a friend in the sap which they were trying to recapture.
He is also remembered at St Alban’s Church Hindhead Surrey, and St John’s Church Buckhurst Hill.
Rifleman Frederick Lionel Nash is Herbert's Brother.
Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian
Principal Sources:
Ancestry.com
The Bancroftian
For more information on this individual please see The Old Bancroftian website.