Harold Rouse 1892 - 1916

Harold was born in Harston, the second son of James & Ruth. He moved with his family to Haslingfield and then Sawston where he was a worker in a leather factory. He enlisted at Cambridge.

From http://7thbattalionsuffolkregt.weebly.com/the-somme-1916.html the following is a description of the action in which Harold lost his life:

On October 11 the battalion, having been allotted its task in the battle of Transloy – already in progress – received orders to take part in an attack on Bayonet trench and Luisenhof farm, which had been fixed for the 12th.  Going in overnight, they were heavily shelled as they made their way into the assembly trenches.
The battalion set out across the open at 2 pm, coming immediately under very heavy cross-fire, mainly from machine-guns and automatic rifles.  Close to the German trenches the attack was held up by machine-gun nests and wire, and the waves, unable to get any further, lay down.
The battalion sustained over five hundred casualties.  The failure of the attack was partly due to the fact that the enemy’s wire had been only partially destroyed, and that the British barrage during the launching of the attack was ineffective.  Of the fourteen officers who went over the top on that occasion all became casualties.

Harold was killed on 12 October. He is buried in Beaulencourt British Cemetery, Ligny-Thilloy, Grave III B 15. His name was added to the Harston war memorial in 2016.