and Heritage Centre
Sharpe Family - Pictures and History
The below section details a local Barry family, the Sharpe Family, a brief history of the family and of course their military service. If you have any information relating to the Sharpe family or Barry wartime history, please feel free to contact us via the contact email address.
The Sharpe family pictured together in Cardiff
Remembrance plaque from WW1 featuring Stanley Sharpe's name. The Memorial is in the lobby of the St Nicholas' Road entrance to Bethel Baptist Church
Harold Sharpe
Stanley Sharpe
Captain STANLEY ARTHUR SHARPE
12th (Service) (3rd Gwent) Bn, South Wales Borderers
Age: 23
Died: 23/11/17
Commemorated: CAMBRAI MEMORIAL, LOUVERVAL, France; Panel 5.
Son of Frank Evan Sharpe, and Mary M. Sharpe, of "Alverna," Cambridge St., Barry, Glam.
Loss: Battle of Cambrai - Capture of Bourlon Wood; On 23/11/17 40th Infantry Division attacked with 121st Infantry Brigade on the left, 20th Middlesex Regiment and 13th Yorkshire Regiment the lead battalions, 21st Middlesex Regiment in support and 12th Suffolk Regiment in reserve, 119th Infantry Brigade on the right, 12th South Wales Borderers on the left and 19th Royal Welsh Fusiliers on the right the lead battal ions, 17th Welsh Regiment in support and 18th Welsh Regiment in reserve. 120th Infantry Brigade were in reserve.
121st Infantry Brigade were to attack Bourlon village, 119th Infantry Brigade, Bourlon Wood. Twenty tanks were allocated to support 121st Infantry Brigade and twelve to 119th Infantry Brigade although due to mechanical breakdown not all were available.
Following off behind the artillery barrage at 10.40am, both 12th South Wales Borderers and 19th Royal Welsh Fusiliers made good initial progress into the wood, rushing across the south sunken road with fixed bayonets. The left flank of 12th South Wales Borderers coming under pressure from a machine-gun post in a small factory on the edge of the wood, this was cleared by the fortunate arrival of a tank.
17th Welsh Regiment coming forwards, by midday, parties of 12th South Wales Borderers had passed through the wood to reach the outskirts of Bourlon village. A series of German counter-attacks during the afternoon pushed them back. Sharpe was killed during this action.
Felix Sharpe
Felix Henry Sharpe married Alice (aka Celia) Cormack. He travelled with Alice to Sydney, Australia 27.08.1953 and returned to Britain 16.02.1954. The passenger manifest lists him as an Engineer. Felix’s wife Alice died a year after they return to England and it is believed that they had no children. Felix died in Somerset, around the age of 90.
Harold Sharpe
Name: Harold F Sharpe
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 1 Nov 1891
Residence Year: 1939
Address: The College Walliscote Rd.
Residence Place: Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
Occupation: Headmaster of School
Harold, the eldest son, became a headmaster in Weston Super Mare and lived at 6 Florence Mansions, Queens Road, Weston-super-Mare. The family are believed to be quite wealthy by this point as Harold left, on the 17th March 1948 to Gladys Marion Sharpe, a sum of £4723 9s 7d. Given that a bank manager in the 1940's earnt £150 a year, this was a huge sum of money. On that measure, in today's terms Harold left Gladys £1,045,199.90