Roll of Honour
Lance Corporal Cyril Joseph George Adams
Service Number: 10295
Regiment: Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (5th)
Conflict: World War One
Date of Birth: 28th March 1898
Date of Death: 25th September 1915
Age at Death: 17
Burial/Memorial Location: Harlebeke New British Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Son of Gregory & Jane Adams, of Hardwick Road, Hethe.
"On Monday, Mr. and Mrs, Gregory Adams, of Hethe, heard the sad news that their son, Lance-Corpl. Cyril Adams, had fallen in action. The news was conveyed in a letter written by a fellow non-commissioned officer, At the very outset of the War, at the first call for recruits, Cyril Adams offered himself, and, being accepted, went into training with the 5th Batt. Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry. He threw himself heart and soul into duties, and was soon promoted to Lance-Corporal. He was 17 years of age on 28th March.
The letter which tells of his death is unofficial.
The ordinary official intimation is necessarily formal, and seems bare and cold, but this letter has heart and warmth in it, and is finely expressed. It tells, in a few sentences, the last chapter of a brave young life given in the service of his Country. The date of his death is that on which the great British advance began.
Writing on the Wednesday following the death of Lance-Corpl. Adams’ fall, Corpl. S. T. Sabin says:
“I am sorry to have to write and send you bad news, but your son was killed in action at Ypres on Saturday last. I was his chief pal here, and it has upset me considerably. I may be some consolation to you to know that he died doing a brave action – that of taking a machine gun to the front line of German trenches that we had captured under very heavy shell fire, to help his mates. Had he lived he would have been recommended for the D.C.M. He died instantly, and was buried close to where he fell. I have lost a good pal, and you, I know, a good son. I offer you my deepest sympathy, and hope that now you know he died doing a brave action it may help to console you in your loss. Please accept the sincerest sympathy of all his chums.”" Bicester Herald 08/10/1915