| Date of birth: | 1882 |
| Place of birth: | Totton, Southampton |
| Regiment: | Devonshire |
| Battalion: | 2nd |
| Rank / Service No: | Private, 44354 |
| Died: | 24th April 1918, aged 35 years |
| Buried: | Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretteneux, France (Plot II, Row I, Grave 16) |
Ernest was the sixth of 8 siblings born to Thomas and Louisa Cotton (nee Mills), who married in Suffolk in 1870.
Thomas was born in Suffolk in 1846 and died in Millbrook in 1900. Louisa was also born in Suffolk, in 1845, and she passed away in Southampton in 1923.
Siblings
Ada Jane b. 1871 Lowestoft d. 1952 Islington
Bessie Louisa b. 1874 Lowestoft d. 1929 Eastleigh Married George Berry in Midhurst in 1903.
Minnie Ellen b. 1875 Lowestoft d. 1960 Suffolk
Cecilia Anna b. 1875 Lowestoft d. ?? Married Ernest Green in Suffolk on 13 April 1905.
George WILLIAM b. 1880 Lowestoft d. 1957 Southampton Married Minnie Annie Stickland in Southampton in 1904.
Albert Ernest
Elsie Florence b. 1885 Totton d. 1968 Suffolk Married Fred Warner in Southampton in 1911.
Percy Gerrel b. 1888 Totton d. 1960 Southampton
Ernest married Mabel G. Hoskins in Southampton in 1911. Mabel was born in the city in 1883 and passed away in Christchurch in 1964.
The couple had 2 sons, one of whom died in infancy….
Albert T. b. 1913 Southampton d. 1913 Southampton
Vernon Frederick E. b. 1916 Southampton d. 2004 Bournemouth
The 2nd Devonshires were in Cairo at the outbreak of war, and returned to England on 1 October 1914.
They came under the orders of the 23rd Brigade in the 8th Division, and landed at Le Havre on 6 November 1914.
The German advance on the nearby city of Amiens ended with the capture of Villers-Bretteneux by their tanks and infantry on 23 April 1918.
The following day, the 8th Division (with help from the 18th and the 4th / 5th Australian divs) recaptured the village. It would have been during this action that Ernest would have lost his life.
The cemetery was begun in June 1918 and used by the 2nd & 3rd Australian divisions. It continued in use until the Allies began their advance on Amiens in mid August, by which time it contained 90 graves in Plot I.
After the Armistice, a large number of graves were brought in from smaller sites close to the village.
Plot II was made almost entirely with graves from UK units.
The cemetery now contains 960 Commonwealth WW1 burials.
| Researcher: | Mark Heritage |
| Published: | 27th June 2016 |
| Updated: |
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