B/23255 Pte Richard C Corti, 26th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

Nearly two and a half thousand men died on the 7th June 1917. B/23255 Private Richard Clarence Corti of the 26th (Bankers') Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was killed in action on this day. He was born in Plaistow, was living in Manor Park and enlisted at East Ham.

Richard may have initially enlisted in the 32nd (Service) Battalion which was a local East Ham battalion formed on the 18th October 1915. His number appears to date to early 1916.

Richard was the son of David William and Evelyn Alice Corti of Manor Park, Essex and was 21 years old when he died. He is commemorated on a special memorial in Voormezeele Enclosure Number 3 in Belgium, and may be one of five casualties whose remains could not be found when graves in Pheasant Wood Cemetery were re-located to Voormezeele.

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

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC, 1901 census, BMD registers)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission