Frederick (Fred) Carr was the son of James Kenyon Carr, born in Liverpool, and his wife Sarah Jane, born in either in Ireland or Preston. The couple married in around 1892 and, in addition to Fred, thought to have been born in 1893, the couple had one more child, Edith Mary, who was born in about 1904. Fred was born and bred in Hoylake and became a joiner like his father. By 1911, James seems to have had his own workshop on Sea View in Hoylake, but Fred was employed as a carpenter by Simon Linekar, an undertaker and builder whose premises were at 54 Market Street, Hoylake and whose telephone number was Hoylake 23X.

The Carr family lived at 31 Ferndale Road, having moved there in 1901 and they would remain there until 1916.

Among his close neighbours were John Hore, who lived at 11 Ferndale Road, and Laurence Lucas, who lived opposite the Carr family at 30 Ferndale Road. All three would be killed during the war.

Due to the lack of records, we cannot tell when Fred joined up, but he did so in Liverpool and it was probably soon after the outbreak of war, as we know he began his service in France on 28th August 1915 and his basic military training would have taken nearly one year.

He was a member of the A/74th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, where he served as a Corporal, but on 13th September 1916, he was killed in action at Guillemont in France, yet another victim of the Battle of the Somme. From mid-July to mid-September 1916, which included the fighting for Guillemont, thirty-two British divisions had been engaged and lost 126,000 men; the British were bogged down, having advanced only 1,000–1,500 yards on a 12,000-yard front.

The Birkenhead News said that he “was a fine, big fellow”. It went on to describe his death: “he was sitting on the gun carriage with some comrades, enjoying a few minutes of well-deserved rest, when a German bomb dropped in the pit, instantly killing him and wounding two of the others. The sender of the sad news paid a very high tribute to the young soldier’s character and ability and spoke of the great esteem he was held in by all who came into daily contact with him.” The article finished with the words, “To his parents and only sister sincere expressions of deep sympathy are heard on all sides.”

This tribute to Frederick Carr appears in the local ‘Book of Remembrance’.