Oscar Herald Ballard was the youngest of nine children born to John Foster Ballard & Eleanor Elizabeth neé Tuffs. He was born in 1899 in Madras, India where his father had served for 19 years in the army & then became clerk to a gold company. Oscar arrived in England with his brother Douglas on 13th June 1908 & joined their mother & siblings in Plymouth. Oscar enlisted in Chelmsford as no 9696 with the Royal Fusiliers and transferred to the Gloucestershire Regiment 8th Service Battalion as Private, 39600. Oscar was just 18 when he was killed in action at the Battle of the Ancre on 18th November 1916.

Paul Ballard