8th December 2015 John William Fryer Annie Fryer John was born in Stamford in 1897, the third child of John Henry (a groom and horseman) and Annie (see photo) of 17 High Street Street, St. Martin’s. In 1911 Annie was living at 23 Water Street with 6 children but John Henry was in Rauceby Asylum with mental illness. Discharged after two years, he did not return home and Annie took her children to 11 St Paul’s Street. In 1915 John William, following his elder brother, Osborne, joined the Territorial Army. He was attested on 5 May 1915 as Private 5322 in the Battalion, Essex Regiment. Several times he was made Acting Corporal but had to relinquish rank for misbehaviour. Finally on 9 April 1918 he was deprived of rank for Disobeying Battalion Orders and “drinking water whilst on a march”. He was discharged on 30 April 1918 having never left the UK but rejoined his unit as Private 275890 and was posted to Egypt. He spent some time in hospital with ‘diarrhoea’ and sailed home on SS ‘Canberra’ in 1919, being demobbed on 30 April 1919. He married in the 1920s and went to live in Glinton, dying there in 1960.