Serjeant John Copping was born in 1880 in Hacheston, Suffolk and his birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1880 in the Plomesgate, Suffolk, registration district. He was the only son and the third of the five children of John Copping (1854-1902) and Emily Copping née Sawyer (1858-1888). His father was a gardener. The 1881 census, taken on 3 April 1881, records him as a 9 months old boy living with his parents and two elder sisters in a house ‘By the school’ in Hacheston, Suffolk. The 1891 census shows him living with his widowed father and four sisters at ‘Road by school’ in Hacheston. He enlisted in the army and the in the 1911 census he is recorded as a Private in the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, at ‘The Camp or Fleet Barracks & Horse Infirmary & Shrapnel Barracks’ at Woolwich Common, Kent. (These barracks were demolished in the 1960's and it is now the site of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Stadium Road, Woolwich).
On 1 October 1912 he married Ethel Maud Reeves (1873-1966) at St Oswald’s Church, Anselm Road, Fulham. On the marriage register he is shown as a Motor Bus Driver living at 74 Tamworth Street, Fulham, whilst her address was given as 1 Lansdowne Terrace, Eastbourne, Sussex.
At the outbreak of World War One he was recalled to the colours and entered France on 13 August 1914 attached to the 1st Cavalry Division. He eventually gained promotion to the rank of Serjeant and served in the 886th Mechanical Transport Company, his service number being C(MT)1560. He was admitted to No.83 (Dublin) Hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France and ‘died of disease’, aged 39 years, on 18 February 1919 and buried in Plot XIII, Row D, Grave 8 in the Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais, France.
His widow was sent his army effects totalling £40-11s-5d, that included a £29-10s-0d war gratuity, to their home address of 43 Festing Road, Putney, on 13 September 1919, followed by a further £1-16s-0d on 8 July 1920. He was posthumously awarded the 1914 Star with the 5th August - 22nd November 1914 clasp, The British War Medal 1914-1918 and The Victory Medal. He is also commemorated on a plaque listing all the men of Putney who died in World War One inside St Mary’s Church, Putney High Street, London, SW15 1SN.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan
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