Fusilier 6981564.

1^st Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Died Sunday 4^th September 1943 aged 23.

Grave ref. Face 11. Rangoon Memorial, Myanmar.

 

Cyril Arthur Anthony was the son of Albert Arthur and Catherine Anthony of Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire.  He was one of five children, having three brothers, Albert, Hedley and Joe and a sister, named Ivy.  The family home was in Albert Street, Ironville. 

Cyril, known to his friends as “Chiddy” was a pupil at Jacksdale Council Schools, reaching Standard six in 1932, when Mr George Stringfellow was headmaster. On leaving school, Cyril obtained employment at James Oakes Pipe Yard and is recorded on the James Oakes & Co (Riddings Collieries) Ltd, Roll of Employees Serving With H.M. Forces during WW2.  

In the late 1930’s tragedy hit the Anthony family, when Cyril’s brother Joe who was only fourteen years old and had just started working at the local pit, seriously injured his foot, dying only a few days later due to the trauma.  Cyril’s father was so distraught that he left his job at the colliery and took up employment at the Forge Works.  Some time later, whilst working in a newly dug trench, the side collapsed and he was buried alive. He died on the 17^th December 1940, from the injuries he had sustained. 

Less than three years later, on 4^th September 1943, whilst serving with the 1^st  Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Cyril was killed, aged only 23 years.  He is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial at Myanmar.  

Cyril’s brother Hedley married and lived in a bungalow he had built himself at nearby ‘Plainspot’ Brinsley.  Ivy married, moving to Leicestershire and became a pub landlady. Albert, become Landlord of a Public House in Derby.  Cyril’s mother, Catherine, outlived her husband by many years, living well into her eighties.

Last updated 30^th June 2002