Bert Manning

Herbert Manning - or Bert as he signed himself on a postcard home - is Jenny's paternal grandfather. He was born into a farming family in South Devon in 1881. As a young man he trained to become a draper in Bristol, where he met Jenny's grandmother. They married in 1909 and together set up a draper's shop in Topsham, Devon, going on to have two sons, Arthur and David, Jenny's father. After the outbreak of World War One, Bert was sent to France in 1917 and died east of Amiens in 1918, of a shrapnel wound to the head .

Bert and Ella about the time of their marriage in 1909 (studio photo)

Bert as a young man in sports uniform

Ella, Sarah Annie Harrison (Ella's mother) and Bert (studio photo about the time of their marriage in 1909)

The second Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery Territorial Force, Bert second from the right, back row, Major Henry Gould, with staff, centre front row.

Bert and Ella with Arthur, David's brother, aged about six (studio photo, approx 1916)

The second Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery Territorial Force camping near Topsham, Bert fourth from the left

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