Private. Killed in action, France and Flanders, 21/8/17 aged 33. Action in which killed – Zonnebeke. Pte Biggs has no known Commonwealth war grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Andrew Behan has kindly carried out some research on this man:
Charles Henry Biggs was born about 1884 in the St Pancras area of London and his father, James Biggs, was a Coal Porter. On 10 October 1909 he married Elizabeth Jane Holt at the St John the Baptist Church, Kentish Town. He was a Carman and their address was shown as 11 College Lane, Kentish Town, where she had lived with her parents. Their son, Charles Albert Daniel Biggs, was born on 19 March 1911 and the census later the following month shows them still living at 11 College Lane and his occupation being given as a Brewers Drayman. In April 1915 he enlisted in the 19th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (St Pancras), service number 3973 and on 28 October 1915 entered France. In 1917 the regiment renumbered their personnel and his service number became 611112. He was Killed in Action on 21 August 1917, aged 33 years, and as he has no known grave is commemorated on Panels 52 to 54 of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium. He was posthumously awarded The 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists his widow as living at 55A Chester Road, Highgate. On 1 December 1917 she received his £4-17s-1d back pay and on 8 December 1919 a £10 War Gratuity.
Andrew points out that Biggs and Barrett (also on the College Lane plaque) were married to two Holt sisters and were both earning a living in connection with the Brewing industry.
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