ROPER, Horace Edward

Horace Roper was the son of Caleb and Henrietta Roper of Colman Hill Farm, Cradley. He was born in 1890 and attended Cradley C of E school before emigrating to New Zealand in 1913 in order to take up farming. He enlisted on the 17th March 1917 in the New Zealand forces and was sent to the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade. They fought at the Third Battle of Ypres with the II Anzac Corps at Polygon Wood in September and at Passchendaele in October. However, in the winter that followed there was much sickness and Rifleman Horace Roper was taken to a military hospital near Boulogne. He died of fever and pneumonia on the 30th January 1918 and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery (XXXI F 8). He is commemorated on the Cradley and Cradley C of E School Memorials.