LEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWII
Private Ernest George Otway
11 Company Pioneer Corps
Town Memorial World War II
PRIVATE
ERNEST GEORGE OTWAY
Service Number: 13048059
Pioneer Corps
11 Coy.
Died 7 February 1944
Age 30 years old
Buried at
ANZIO WAR CEMETERY
II, E, 8.
Italy
Son of Harry and Amelia Otway, of Leatherhead, Surrey; husband of Gladys Ellen Rita Otway, of Leatherhead.
Surrey Advertiser
Saturday 29 April 1944
LEATHERHEAD SOLDIER’S DEATH
Mrs. Otway, of 76, Cleeve Road, Leatherhead. who was notified that her husband, Pte. Ernest George Otway, of the Pioneer Corps, was killed in action in Italy, has now received a letter from his Company Commander, informing her that Pte. Otway was wounded during the landing on the Anzio beachhead and died whilst on the way to hospital. He had previously taken part in the invasion of Sicily.
Mrs. Otway, of 76, Cleeve Road, Leatherhead. who was notified that her husband, Pte. Ernest George Otway, of the Pioneer Corps, was killed in action in Italy, has now received a letter from his Company Commander, informing her that Pte. Otway was wounded during the landing on the Anzio beachhead and died whilst on the way to hospital. He had previously taken part in the invasion of Sicily.
Pte. Otway, who, in civilian life, was a
dairy roundsman, was 29 years of age and joined the Pioneer Corps four
years ago. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. H. Otway, of 109, Kingston Road,
Leatherhead. Another son, Albert Otway, is serving in the R.A.F.
Pte. Otway married Miss Rita Terry, and
there is a three-years-old son.
ANZIO WAR CEMETERY
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.
Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but by the end of October, the Allies were facing the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line, which stretched from the river Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in the east. Initial attempts to breach the western end of the line were unsuccessful.
Operations in January 1944 landed troops behind the German lines at Anzio, but defences were well organised, and a breakthrough was not actually achieved until May. The site for this cemetery was selected not long after the landings at Anzio and the burials here date from the period immediately following the landings. Anzio War Cemetery contains 1,056 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. The cemetery was designed by Louis de Soissons.
His life
Ernest Otway's birth was registered at Epsom, Surrey in July 1914.His father was Harry Otway, born 8 November 1885, Leatherhead, Surrey.He was baptised at Leatherhead on 20 December 1885. He was a Bricklayer, a son of John Otway (1847-1916) from Ashtead, Surrey and Harriet Wilsden or Wilsdon (1852-1931) from Chalgrove, Oxfordshire.
His mother was Amelia Shurville, born 3 August 1886, baptised March 14 1894 at Leatherhead Parish Church, Surrey (on the same day as her sister Louisa born 25 April 1883). She was a daughter of Francis George Shurville (1844-1912) a Bricklayer from Reading, Berkshire and Frances Bartholemew (1844-1900) from Dorking, Surrey.
Although they were both from Leatherhead families, when his parents were married in April 1906 it was in Bromley, Kent.
His siblings included Harry (1906), Frank William (1909), Elsie (1912), Albert John (1921), Betty (born and died 1925), and Irene (1927).
The marriage of Ernest and Gladys Rita Ellen Terry was registered in October 1939 at Epsom, Surrey. In the 1939 England & Wales Register she was a barmaid living at the Plough Inn, Leatherhead. Gladys was born on 13 January 1910 (another source says 13 January 1908). Her backgound has not yet been traced. The press report of Ernest's death refers to her as Rita rather than Gladys.
They had a son.
From the Electoral and other Registers the whereabouts of his families during Ernest's lifetime can be traced:
the Otways
1926-1939: 109 Kingston Road, Leatherhead
Ernest & Gladys
1944: 76, Cleeve Road, Leatherhead
1926-1939: 109 Kingston Road, Leatherhead
Ernest & Gladys
1944: 76, Cleeve Road, Leatherhead
After the war
Ernest's father died on 27 July 1963. His address in the Probate record was still 109 Kingston Road, Leatherhead. His mother, Amelia, died in 1970.Ernest's widow Gladys was at 76 Cleeve Road, Leatherhead in 1945.
Mrs Gladys Rita Ellen Otway died on 6 November 1973 in Broadstairs, Kent.
Ernest Otway is remembered on these memorials
Leatherhead Town Memorial
Leatherhead RBL Roll of Honour, Leatherhead Parish Church
the website editor would like to add
further information on this casualty
e.g. a photo of him, his headstone, and any recollections of him
last updated 8 Feb 24