Frederick Julian Horner, born on 23rd September 1895, was admitted to King Edward’s School in January 1909, having transferred from Coventry Grammar School. His father, Frederick, was Secretary of Coventry Education Committee, and the family, including his mother, Julia, lived on St Patrick’s Road, Coventry.
The School records reveal little of Frederick’s sporting activities but show that he was regularly in the top half of a very able group of boys.
In 1915, Frederick gained a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 10th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In February, he was promoted to Lieutenant, and was sent to Salonica in 1916, attached to the 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. By December, he had been made Acting Captain, but immediately after this promotion, he was seriously wounded. Following a period in Malta, Frederick was wounded again in April 1918, this time succumbing to his wounds on 15th of that month. He had been “In command of his platoon, stemming an overwhelming enemy advance; he had already been wounded in the right arm.” For his actions, Frederick received a Military Cross which was gazetted a month after his death. He is buried in Struma Military Cemetery, Greece, and the inscription on his headstone reads: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.” Frederick left his estate of £671 to his father who, on the anniversary of his son’s death, even as late as 1941, had commemorative messages published in local newspapers, “to the cherished memory of Frederick Julian Horner.”