L/13163 Pte John Francis Friday, 3rd East Surrey Regiment

Seven months after the Armistice was declared, L/13163 Pte John Friday of the 3rd East Surrey Regiment, died at home in Gillingham, Kent; on this day 6th July, 1919.

Soldiers Died in The Great War notes that he was born in Gillingham and that he enlisted in Lille, France. It also records the fact that he had previously served with the Middlesex Regiment where he had the number 62089. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission additionally notes that he was 21 years old, the son of John Thomas and Laura Ann Friday, of 7 Danes Hill, Gillingham.

John Friday's medal index card at the National Archives also indicates two other army service numbers: 21684 with the East Surrey Regiment and 51325 with the Manchester Regiment. 21684 looks to date to around June 1916 and 51325 is the following year, between March and July 1917.

My data for enlistments into the Middlesex Regiment, particularly late on in the war, is not as complete as it is for other regiments. However, it looks as though he joined the Middlesex regiment in 1918 and then transferred for a third time, back to the East Surrey Regiment. The L/ prefix for the East Surrey number indicates an enlistment for regular terms of service - seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve.

John Friday is buried in Gillingham (Woodlands) Cemetery; grave ref: H 320.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (Medal index card)
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in the Great War