Lieutenant Charles Edward FRY (1901)

23rd Brigade, Royal Artillery
Born 26 December 1881 in Dorchester, Dorset
Killed in action 17 April 1917, aged 35
Buried in Anzin-St Aubin British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France. Also commemorated on the Cheadle Hulme Memorial (as T C Fry); on a plaque at Manchester Grammar School; and on the war memorial at St Mary’s Church, Litton Cheney, Dorset.

Charles Fry was the son of Thomas and Anna Fry of “Baglake”, Litton Cheney, Dorset. He was married to Hilda Sophie, née Watson, on 4 September 1916.

He attended Dover College 1895-1901, where he was head prefect in his final year. Whilst at Merton he was President of the Boat Club in 1903/4.

In 1906, he became an Assistant Classics Master at Manchester Grammar School, and set up the school’s rowing club.

On the outbreak of war he applied to become an officer with the Public Schools’ Battalion, returning to Manchester to work with the school’s Officer Training Corps. Gazetted to the Royal Field Artillery, he left for France in 1915.

He was killed on 17 April 1917, along with three other members of his gun team, by a direct hit during a bombardment near the village of Athies, on the outskirts of Arras.