Private James Francis Gates
Hampshire Regiment
Born in London in 1874, Francis James
Gates was known as James. When he died in 1946 in the
JEP there were details about the funeral, and said that
he was at one time in the East Surrey Regiment. The
British Legion laid a wreath and the coffin was draped
in a Union Jack.
The East Surrey Regiment was stationed in India then
came to Jersey in 1905 until 1908.
My Grandfather married my Jersey born Grandmother at
St James Church, Jersey, in October 1907 and on the
marriage certificate he is a soldier. His first child
was born June 1908 and he was now a labourer. In the
Jersey 1911 Census he was a labourer and down as James
Gates.
When one of his children was born in Jersey July 1915
he was not in the army but August 1917 when another
child was born he was a soldier in the Royal Defence
Corps.
When Francis Gates completed his World War Two Occupation
Identity registration document, he put that he retired
from the Army as a Private on the 7th February 1920
