Thank you to Jane Anthony for the following research.
Edward Jack Curtis was born in Horsham in 1892, he was one of five children that Robert Curtis had by his first wife. Robert had a further two children by his second wife Ellen. The family seems to have moved around a lot. Robert was born in Kent then moved to Albert Road, Reigate. By 1901 he was living with his second wife and children in the Baynards area of Cranleigh and in 1911 at Rose Cottage Okewood Hill. Edward was born in about 1894 and at the time of the 1911 census he was earning his living as a domestic gardener, like his father and one of his older brothers, the other brother was a game keeper.
At some point between the 1911 census and the outbreak of the war he seems to have moved away from Surrey to live in the Bedfordshire and Hertford area. He enlisted in the 6th (Service) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment (Number 12808). This battalion was formed in September 1914.
He was killed in action on 15 July 1916 and is commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial, to the Missing of the Somme, which bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.
Thiepval Memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, was built between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the President of France, on 1 August 1932.
Edward Jack Curtis is commemorated on the Abinger, Okewood Hill and Forest Green Memorials.
| Born | Horsham, Sussex | |
| Son of | Robert Curtis | |
| Regiment | 6th Service Battalion. Bedfordshire Regiment | |
| Number | 12808 | |
| Date of Death | 15th July 1916 | |
| Place of Death | Somme, France | |
| Cause of Death | Killed in Action | |
| Age | 22 | |
| Memorial | Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France |
