Born: June 21, 1886
At: Uppingham, Rutland , England
Died:
At:

Marriage:

Spouse: Robert Ernest Draper

Known as: Ernest

Born: January 17, 1883
At:
Died: February 10, 1919
At: sea, 300 miles east of Gibralter

Rank: Private
Regiment: Wiltshire Regiment
Unit Text: 1st/4th Bn.
Age: 36
Service No: 203945
Additional information: Son of the late Robert and Lois Draper; husband of Maud Mary Draper, of Leamington Terrace, Uppingham, Rutland.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 44
Cemetery: Jerusalem Memorial

Children:

Thomas Ernest Draper (1907-1971)
John Draper (1916-1930)

Robert Ernest Draper's father was also named Robert, as the son he was known as Ernest.

From Mr. Keith Shelvey's book Rutland and the Great War:

DRAPER, Pte. Robert Ernest, 1/4th Wilts. Regt., was the younger son of Mr. Robert Draper, Market Place and High Street, Uppingham. He was married, his widow being Mrs. Maud Draper, Leamington Terrace, Uppingham, and he left two children.

Born at Bisbrook on the 17th January, 1883, he was a wine merchant's assistant, being with his father before joining up. He was associated with the old Volunteers, and attended five camps, while subsequently he belonged to the Leicestershire Yeomanry, and when service men were required for the Midland Railway Viaduct at Harringworth, after the war broke out, he volunteered for that duty.

He enlisted in the regular Army on the 25th October, 1915, and on New Years Day, 1916, proceeded with the 21st Midland Rifle Brigade to Egypt. He got transferred to the 2/5 Hants. Regt., and proceeding to Palestine, was engaged in the fighting at Gaza and elsewhere. He subsequently transferred to the Wilts. Regt. While in Egypt he studied in the school of musketry and passed in the first class.

He contracted sand fly fever, and after recovering, upon rejoining his regiment, fell ill with malaria, and had to return to hospital, while later, when at a convalescent camp, he was stricken with dysentery. He was admitted to the 27th General Hospital in Cairo on November 20, 1918, and had several relapses.

While being brought to England from Alexandra on H.M.N.Z. Hospital Ship, "Maheno" he died on board on the 10th February, 1919.

The burial service was held at sea between Malta and Gibraltar, about 350 miles east of the latter place. Col. E. E. Povritt, O.C. Troops on the Hospital Ship, and the Rev. H. Watson, C.F., forwarded sympathetic letters to the wife and father, the chaplain stating he was much struck with Pte. Draper's courage and patience. He found it, he said, a strain to talk, but he never complained.

A comrade, Lance-Corp. W. Haines, who belongs to Nottingham, and who heard of Pte. Draper's death in India, from another Uppingham soldier, J. Baddeley, writing to Mr. Draper, senior, said -"Although he had a sailor's grave, I can honestly say that a better soldier never stood under a pack than he was. I have known him volunteer for many dangerous patrols and have often told him he would be going once too often, but he would simply smile and say, 'Well, so and so won't go, so I will.' He had several narrow escapes."

The writer of this letter was at one time in the Guards Regt., and went through the South African War. Pte. Draper's mother died while he was on active service and his second son was born after he went abroad, so that he had never seen him.

From the Commonwealth War Grave Commission web site, listing for Robert Ernest Draper:

Cemetery Details Cemetery: JERUSALEM MEMORIAL
Country: Israel
Locality: unspecified

Visiting Information: Wheelchair access to the cemetery possible, but may be via an alternative entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on telephone number 01628 507200.

Location Information: The Jerusalem Memorial stands in Jerusalem War Cemetery, 4.5 kilometres north of the walled city and is situated on the neck of land at the north end of the Mount of Olives, to the west of Mount Scopus. Follow the signs for Mount Scopus. At the crossroads with the Hyatt Hotel, which is on the left, turn left. There is an orange sign which reads "Military Cemetery". Go to the top of the hill, cross almost straight over the junction, then turn right and sharp left. The cemetery will be visible at this point.

Historical Information: At the outbreak of the First World War, Palestine (now Israel) was part of the Turkish Empire and it was not entered by Allied forces until December 1916. The advance to Jerusalem took a further year, but from 1914 to December 1917, about 250 Commonwealth prisoners of war were buried in the German and Anglo-German cemeteries of the city. By 21 November 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had gained a line about five kilometres west of Jerusalem, but the city was deliberately spared bombardment and direct attack. Very severe fighting followed, lasting until the evening of 8 December, when the 53rd (Welsh) Division on the south, and the 60th (London) and 74th (Yeomanry) Divisions on the west, had captured all the city's prepared defences. Turkish forces left Jerusalem throughout that night and in the morning of 9 December, the Mayor came to the Allied lines with the Turkish Governor's letter of surrender. Jerusalem was occupied that day and on 11 December, General Allenby formally entered the city, followed by representatives of France and Italy. Meanwhile, the 60th Division pushed across the road to Nablus, and the 53rd across the eastern road. From 26 to 30 December, severe fighting took place to the north and east of the city but it remained in Allied hands. JERUSALEM WAR CEMETERY was begun after the occupation of the city, with 270 burials. It was later enlarged to take graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood. There are now 2,514 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, 100 of them unidentified. Within the cemetery stands the JERUSALEM MEMORIAL, commemorating 3,300 Commonwealth servicemen who died during the First World War in operations in Egypt or Palestine and who have no known grave.

No. of Identified Casualties: 3299 This figure includes Foreign and Non-World War graves in CWGC care.

A big 'Thank You' to Mr. Keith Shelvey for the use of his pictures of the Men who Served, the Uppingham War Memorial, and the Roll of Honour