Notes
The Bradford Grammar School website (see References) states: 'Edward Albert Gellert was born in the summer of 1888 into a German family attracted to Bradford by its wool industry.
His father Ernest Bruno Gellert came from Saxe-Altenburg in central Germany. In 1881 he was a commercial clerk in the wool industry, boarding in Little Horton. Only a decade later he was a yarn merchant occupying a large house on Selbourne Grove, across Lister Park from the present Grammar School. Gellert was a partner in the firm of Nathan Heydemann and Son, whose palatial warehouse stands still in Little Germany at 4 Currer Street. In 1885 he married Rosa, from the same area of Germany. They had three daughters and two sons. In 1899 Bruno became a naturalized British subject. On the eve of the First World War the family occupied a substantial house on the Heaton Estates, with many of Bradford’s leading citizens for neighbours. Bruno bought out his business partner, and his eldest daughter Marta had recently married the son of a Berlin wool merchant, at St Luke’s parish church.
Edward attended the Bradford Grammar School from 1898 until 1907, and his younger brother Harry was a year below him. The brothers combined academic and sporting prowess. In his final year Edward was described in The Bradfordian as ‘The most energetic forward we have; rather light yet, but has all the makings of a good forward; follows up well; plays the game in the true vigorous spirit. Shows his keenness by constant attendance at practices.’ He was 5 feet 10 inches and weighed 10 stone. He defended the Suffragettes in the Debating Society, and he obtained Higher Certificates in Latin, Greek, English and History. He was in Form VI Classical and must have been intended for university, but what he did next is unknown—the only person of his name who can be found travelled to Quebec in 1912 with the occupation of waiter.
The outbreak of war with Germany must have come as a profound shock to this family. Nevertheless, Edward soon volunteered for the Bradford Territorial battalion, the 6th, and joined his former schoolfriends in ‘C’ Company. They crossed to France in April 1915 as part of 49th West Riding Division. From July the Division was stationed in the north-eastern part of the Ypres Salient. For much of the autumn heavy rains flooded the trenches. Only regular
rotation between the front, support and reserve made the conditions endurable. The division was promised it would leave the Salient before Christmas. The 6th Battalion entered the trenches for the final time on 15th December. On the 17th there was heavy shelling, in which Laurence Denison suffered a mortal wound, then all was quiet. At 5.15 a.m. on the 19th sentries heard a hissing sound which presaged a German gas assault. Another O.B. related what happened in a letter: ‘The gas came over in the early morning in great green clouds. All telephone communications had been cut and so one of my platoon doubled off with the warning. Within three minutes, if that, the artillery had drawn an impassable curtain of fire across their line. Isolated [German] parties managed to struggle out and across but were mown down to a man by machine gun and rifle fire. At no point did they enter our trenches....Of those killed I think you will remember Gellert and Cohen. The boys are full of
plans for Christmas.’ The Battalion had one hundred casualties, a quarter of those in the line, of whom eighteen were killed. Effective gas masks (the ‘Tube’ or P.H. Helmet) had recently been issued and the men were alert, so the deaths were caused by shellfire. Gellert was taken to the dressing station at Essex Farm, but had died and was buried there.'