Ferris | Jack
Biography
Jack Ferris was the son of William John Ferris and Kathleen Ferris (nee Sainsbury).
William J Ferris was the son of Charles and Louisa Ferris, born in Bristol in 1863 and 1865 respectively. Charles was described as a cotton spinner or cotton slasher at a factory, working at the Great Western Cotton Works by 1921. They were living at 20, Cobden Street, Bristol in 1901 but by 1911 had moved to 126 Victoria Avenue, Redfield, Bristol. They appear to have had at least six children, of which William was the youngest. They were at the same address in 1921 with William being their only child still living at home. His occupation was described as a carpenter at Fry & Sons Cocoa Manufacturers in Bristol but was out of work at the time.
Kathleen Sainsbury was the daughter of William and Fanny Sainsbury. William was born in Westbury, Wiltshire in 1850 and Fanny in Colwall near Malvern in 1865. They had married in 1893. In 1901 the family were living at Church Street, Westbury. William was working as a coal merchant. Six children were present, of which Kathleen was the fourth, as well as William’s 80 year old mother and a servant. A seventh child was born in 1905, but just a few months before, in late 1904, William had died. Fanny continued to live in Westbury until at least 1939 and died in Warminster in 1948 aged 83. However, by 1911 Kathleen was living at 1 Sloan Street, St. George, Bristol in the household of George E Sainsbury and his wife, Elizabeth. Although she was described as his daughter, she was, in fact, his niece. The family believe she was sent to Bristol to look after her Aunt, but they treated her as a servant. Although aged just 14, she was working as a chocolate packer at Fry’s Chocolate factory. By 1921, her aunt was widowed and Kathleen was still living with her, now working as a Chocolate Moulder for Messers. Fry & Sons, Chocolate Manufacturer.
William J Ferris (born on 4th May, 1900) married Kathleen Sainsbury (born 1st February 1897) in early 1922 in Westbury in Wiltshire. They had four children as follows, all in Bristol: Kenneth William 1922, Mary Kathleen 1923, Jack 1925 and Mervyn 1927.
By 1939 William was now working as a Ship’s Joiner & Carpenter and the family were living at 126 Victoria Avenue, Bristol, where he had been living previously with his parents. His father had died late in 1921 and his mother in 1924. With them were their son, Kenneth W Ferris and two other children whose names were not disclosed. It isn’t known where the other child was at this time. Kenneth (born 16/7/1922) was working as a Photo Print Worker.
Military career
It isn’t known when Jack Ferris joined the Army, but as he was only 19 at the time of his death it is thought that it was not long before he died. He was a Gunner in the 7 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery.
This Regiment served the whole of the war with the 3rd Infantry Division. The Division had been sent to France in September 1939, but had to be evacuated in May 1940 from Dunkirk. They were the first British formation to land at Sword Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944, as part of the invasion of Normandy. After D-Day the 3rd Infantry Division fought through the Battle for Caen, in Operation Charnwood and Operation Goodwood. With the fighting in Normandy over after the Battle of the Falaise Gap, the division also participated in the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine and fought in the Netherlands and Belgium and later the Allied invasion of Germany.
From 5th to 16th September 1944, the 7 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery was based at Les Andelys in France, having just crossed the Seine. They were able to train and relax after their first taste of attack and in preparation for the challenges to come. Some were able to make a trip to Paris while others visited Rouen, with the War Diary stating that “There is no record of their doings but they had evidently enjoyed themselves.”
On 17th September they entered Belgium and were based to the east of Mons. It was reported that “the civilians in Belgium are in great form” and that “The Lt. QM, a married man, stated that he had never been kissed so much in his life.” It was not all fun however as it was also recorded that they spent the night without cover in most unpleasant rain. On the 18th they assisted the 9th Brigade in crossing the Escaut Canal. The War Diary records: “This is the first time we have fired the 25 pounders. It is good to be doing the job we were intended to do instead of training in the back areas”. They remained near this area until 24th September, with a comment being made that: “This is an unpleasant area, the farms are very poor and the inhabitants very hungry.”
On the 24th they moved into the Netherlands at Someren (east of Eindhoven) to enable them to fire in defence of the Asten bridgehead which the US 11th Armoured Division had established. At this point their HQ and Observation Post parties were shelled heavily which they had not experienced since mid August. The enemy had retreated east of Meijel and the regiment stayed roughly in this area, supporting troops as necessary, but with it being generally quiet.
On 1st October, the Regiment moved up across the Maas to an area south of Malden, just south of Nijmegen. They remained in this area until 9th October. There was little fighting and the Regiment was harassing the enemy, but they were also getting shelled. Two Officers and four Other Ranks were wounded and two Other Ranks killed in this period.
On 9th October the Regiment moved to a position south of the village of Oploo. The War Diary comments that they were: “surrounded by the biggest concentration of artillery we have seen since the early days in France”. However, it was also stated that: “This area is most unpopular, the ground is sodden and most of the slit trenches are filled with water.” They had little firing to do until 12th October when they fired in support of the 8th Brigade whose goal was to capture and consolidate Overloon. In the process, 3 Other Ranks of the artillery regiment were wounded.
From the 13th, the aim was for the Regiment to continue to support the 9th and 185th Brigades to move south to take Venray, one from the north and the other more from the west. On the 13th and 14th progress was not as good as hoped as the Brigades had difficulty crossing a water filled ditch called the Molenbeek. Two enemy observation posts on Venray Church and a tower at Maashees to the east resulted in enemy fire also slowing progress. On the 15th the Regiment moved to a position just west of Overloon near the road from Oploo to Overloon in preparation for a further attack on the 16th with the aim of crossing the Molenbeek during the early morning hours of darkness. This was successfully achieved despite bad weather and the area being thickly sown with mines. Both Brigades were making progress towards Venray by the end of the day. One Officer of the Regiment and two Other Ranks were wounded.
The battle for Venray continued on the 17th with the Brigades making further progress, though they didn’t succeed in their objective of reaching a Monastery south east of Venray that day. Three Other Ranks of the artillery regiment were killed that day, including Jack Ferris. The others were fellow Gunners Philip Holmes and Joseph Wade. The battle for Venray was won the following day and the regiment was allowed a rest period from 20thto 24th October.
The three men were initially buried just outside Overloon where they had been based on the 15th. This was between Heldersweg and Merseloseweg on land owned by Marte Willems, near the premises of A. Bloemen. On 29 May 1946 they were re-interred side by side at the Overloon Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. Jack’s inscription reads: “May the sunshine he missed on life’s journey be his in this garden of rest.”
Jack’s mother, Kathleen Ferris, died in Bristol in 1974 aged 77 and his father, William John Ferris, in 1995 aged 94.
Jack’s elder brother, Kenneth William Ferris, married Violet F Brushmear in London in 1944 and went on to have two children. Kenneth died in Devon in 2002.
It is understood that Jack’s sister, Mary Kathleen Ferris, may have married prior to 1947, but her husband died. She went on to marry Norman S Sager in Bristol in early 1947. He was a Sergeant in the Royal New Zealand Air Force who had been based in the UK. On 14th February 1947 they sailed together for New Zealand where they had two children. She had still been living at 126, Victoria Avenue, Redfield, Bristol before her departure. Kathleen visited the UK again in 1957, bringing her children with her, but returned to Wellington on 7th June.
Jack’s younger brother, Mervyn Ferris, married Janet M Iles in 1956 in Bristol. They went on to have two children. Mervyn died in 2018 at Weston Super Mare, aged 91.
