George Peter Cruddas
Location: St Petroc’s Church, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL31 2DT
Details on cross:
2LT S.G.P. CRUDDAS
6/DCLI
21.9.15
Text Type (e.g. handwritten, G.R.U tags, carved): GRU Tags
Cross Dimensions: (millimetres please) Inaccessible to measure.
Shaft Height: N/A
Cross beam width: N/A
Width of wood: N/A
Thickness or depth: N/A
Other information
Mounting to wall: Screwed
Detailing: Chamfering on ends of cross piece
Evidence of use in field (earth marking, cracking, staining, shrinkage): appears to have rooted and snapped off at ground level
Surface insertion depth (into ground if apparent):
Finish (varnish, paint, oiled, unfinished etc): Unfinished??
Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc): Fair, some cracking
Other information, notes and observations:
George Peter Cruddas was born at Withiel Rectory on November 24th 1894 to Katherine and the Rev William Cruddas. He was a boarder at Exeter School at the time of the 1911 census and went on to Exeter College, Oxford. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 6th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry on 28th November 1914. He went to France on 16th August 1915 and was killed in action at Railway Wood just over a month later on 21st September, although the 6th DCLI war diary records his death on 20th September. He was not quite 21. According to de Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour published in 1916 he was buried in Ypres Prison Yard. He was later reburied in Ypres Reservoir North Cemetery.
His battlefield cross hangs on the wall of the magisterially gloomy and flag festooned St Maurice’s Chapel within St Petroc’s Church.
Survey and photographs courtesy of Andrew Macdonald, Date of survey 28th July 2017.
