| Rank | Private |
| Service # | 6671 |
| Unit # | 1st |
| 24th Reg. | Yes |
| Resident | Chatham |
Regimental number: 6671. LAC Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2176 – 9.
Date of Birth 30/08/1884 Private Croucher was born at Sittingbourne in England, one of eight children of George and Isabella (nee Coleman) Croucher. Hope came directly to Chatham, ON., several years before the outbreak of the Great War. Living at 62 Murray Street in Chatham and had been employed at the Gray’s Carriage Works in Chatham as a body worker before enlisting in 1914. His six sisters (Alice, Mable, Grace, Nora, Hilda Nora, Gertrude and Jane/Jenny Eliza) and two brothers (Edward George and Sydney) and both parents survived him.
Private Croucher trained at Valcartier with the 1st Contingent going overseas Sept. 29, 1914 and arriving on Salsbury Plains Oct. 19.
He proceeded to France Feb. 8, 1915 with the 1st battalion serving until Apr. 23 when he was killed in action.
A member of the 24th kent Regt., Hope left Chatham with the other enlistees for the camp at Valcatier, Quebec in 22 August 1914.
Sailing with the 1st Contingent CEF he arrived in England in October of 1914 and after training at Salisbury Plain, he went to France with the 1st Battalion. Sadly Hope’s time at the front would come to an end during the first major engagement the Canadian Division found itself in. During the 2nd Battle of Ypres, while the German’s were executing the first use of poisionus gas, Hope was fatally wounded.
Hope’s death at Langemarck was reported in a letter from Walter TAYLOR to William CALLERY and reported in the Chatham Daily Planet 14/07/1915. Walter tells of an incident that he was involved in that saw the death and wounding of five ‘Chatham boys’, “I know that I lost my best mate in the engagement. We were talking together at the time. There was five of us sitting around making some tea during a lull in the proceedings when a shell dropped in the middle of the group, killed two and wounded three. One of the chaps named H. Croucher.
Another story of Hope’s death was reported in the Chatham Daily Planet of 22/04/1916 on the one year anniversary of the ‘blooding’ of the “Chatham Boys’ at Ypres / St. Julien. In this version of his death it was reported that, “He had been wounded in the early part of the day, but on account of there being so many wounded in the dressing station he was placed in a barn. He was quite and cheerful at the time and making some tea when a shell burst wrecking the barn and killing the Chatham soldier.”
CROUCHER, HOPE REGINAL Initials: H R Nationality: Canadian Rank: Private. Regiment: Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regt.) Unit Text: 1st Bn. Age: 30 Date of Death: 22/04/1915 Service No: 6671 Additional information: Son of George and Isabella Croucher, of 198, Patterson Avenue, Chatham, Ontario. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 10 – 26 – 28 Cemetery: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL 27/09/1886. CWGC
See Attestation record CROUCHER H R 6671 copied.
Nominal Roll D-Company, 13 Platoon 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion. 17/02/15.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
| Cenotaph | Chatham and Kent County Cenotaph - Chatham |
| Sources | Chatham Daily Planet (19-05-1915), Chatham Daily Planet (14-07-1915), Chatham Daily Planet (25-05-1915), Chatham Daily Planet (28-05-1915), Chatham Daily Planet (24-04-1917), Chatham Daily Planet (27-09-1919), Centennial Chatham 1895-1995 - John Rhodes |
| Supplemental Information | Parents: Mr. & Mrs. George Croucher |
| Height | 5'5" |
| Eye Colour | grey |
| Age | 30 |
| Complexion | fair |
| Hair | brown |
| Race | white |
| Birthplace | Snodland, England |
| Religion | Anglican |
| Last Place of Employment | Windsor, Ontario |
| Average Earnings | 3.50/day |
| Marital Status | single |
| When Enlisted | Aug 1914 |
| Where Enlisted | Chatham, Ontario |
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