Forename: Frederick Ewart
Surname: Bridgman
Rank: Sergeant
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Institution: St Paul’s Practising School
Frederick Ewart Bridgman was born in 1895, the son of Frederick John and Bessie Kate Bridgman of 2 Hungerford Cottages, Cheltenham. Prior to the war he worked as a clerk at Messrs. Frederick Wright and Co., tobacconists.
Like Ernest Artus, Frederick was also a Sergeant in the 10th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, and also lost his life on 25 September 1915 during the Battle of Loos. He was 20 years old. Fellow soldier Private J. Bayliss wrote home to a friend in Cheltenham: “Just a line to let you know I found this little photo (of a young woman) on a dead body which is that of Sergeant F.E. Bridgeman 13335, No.3 Company, 10th Gloucesters… from what I can see he was one of the first to get to the enemy trench”. He is buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, and his headstone reads “Never forgotten”. Frederick was one of the nine ex-Practising School pupils to lose his life on 25 September 1915.