Harold's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Harold De Lisle Coppock was baptised on 4 July 1897 at St Peter's Church, Prestbury, near Macclesfield, the son of Margaret Ellen (née Lowe) and Walter Coppock, a silk weaver of Tytherington. In 1901, three-year-old Harold was living with his parents and maternal grandparents at Bell Lane, Tytherington, near Macclesfield. By 1911 the family had moved to 72 Beech Lane, Macclesfield.
Harold had three brothers, two of whom died young: William Richard (born 1895, died 1896); Walter (born 1906, died 1908); and Harry (born 1909).
MILITARY SERVICE
Harold enlisted in Macclesfield in September 1914, joining the local 7th Cheshire Regiment with service number 2177. After training he volunteered for overseas service with the 5th Cheshire Regiment, being drafted out to France on 14 February 1915. Two months later he was sent to the divisional rest camp at Ballieul, suffering from Synovitis, and was later invalided back to England.
At Easter 1916, after recovery, Harold was drafted out to Egypt to join the 7th Cheshire Regiment, and was killed in action on 17 December 1917.
Private Coppock's death was reported in the Macclesfield Courier on 12 January 1918:
PTE H COPPOCK
Mr and Mrs W Coppock, of 72 Beech Lane, have received official news that their elder son, Pte Harold Coppock, was killed in action on December 17th in Palestine. Pte Coppock was twenty years of age and enlisted on September 4th 1914 - one month after the outbreak of war - when he was only 17 years of age. After undergoing training in England with the 1/7th Cheshires he was one of the hundred men who volunteered for service with the 5th Cheshires in France, where he served for seven months. He was invalided home to England, where he remained for about six months, being sent out to Egypt to his old regiment - the 1/7th Cheshires - at Easter 1916. He has been through all the engagements in Palestine, and it is feared that he was killed in the fighting near Jerusalem. Before enlistment he was employed at the Victoria Mills of Messrs F Hall and Co. He was from boyhood connected with the Parish Church, having been in the choir many years. He was educated at the Beech Lane Day Schools, and also attended the Sunday School, being confirmed at the Parish Church in April 1913.
His death was also reported in the Macclesfield Times on 11 January 1918:
CHORISTER KILLED IN THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN
Mr and Mrs W Coppock... have received official intimation that their son, Pte Harold Coppock, Cheshire Regt, fell in action in Palestine on December 17th... Pte Coppock was formerly employed in the warehouse at Victoria Mills... He trained at Northampton and Cambridge and afterwards volunteered for active service with another battalion of the Cheshires, with whom he was drafted out in February 1915... and was invalided home on account of illness...
COMMEMORATION
Private Harold Coppock has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 19 of the Jerusalem Memorial. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Harold Coppock, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Harold Coppock is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall and St Michael's Church war memorials.
SOURCES
Cheshire Parish Baptism Registers (FindMyPast)
Census (England & Wales): 1901, 1911
WWI British Army Medal Rolls Index Cards (Ancestry)
MH106: WWI Representative Selection of Military Hospitals Admissions and Discharge Registers (Forces War Records)
Lives of the First World War website
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Macclesfield Courier: 12 January 1918
Macclesfield Times: 11 January 1918 and 23 September 1921 (photo supplement)
Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.