27090, Private, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.
Missing in Action on the 23rd July 1916 aged 28.
Thiepval Memorial, Somme.
Ernest was born on the 12th April 1887, the son of William & Delia Taplin of 5 Southsea Road, Stevenage. He worked as a Builders Labourer before joining the Army. His younger brother, Nelson, was also killed in action in Belgium on the 12th October 1917.
His Battalion were held in reserve during the first three weeks of the Battle of the Somme and did not find themselves in Front Line positions until the 19th July, where they remained in a reserve position until the night of the 23rd July 1916. It was then that the Battalion were engaged in pushing out small-fortified posts from the trenches between High Wood and Delville Wood. Ernest was killed in the support trenches at Ginchy during a German artillery bombardment.
Ernest has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial, France. (Pier 2. Face C.)
Medal Entitlement: British War Medal & Victory Medal.