Cator Road. How many people, on passing Cator Road, off School Road, Drayton give a thought to the man who bore the name? Cator Road bears mute testimony to the heroism of one of Norfolk’s most decorated soldiers.

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Harry Cator was born in a little terraced cottage at Fakenham Road, Drayton, on 24th January 1894, next door to Alfred George Senior. At that time Alfred was a coal porter at Drayton Railway Station. It is believed Harry’s father was a plate layer on the railway.

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At the age of three or four he started his education at the local village school on School Lane as it was then. Another village lad, Robert George Carter, later to be a most successful builder, was already attending there, he being about two years older.. There were two teachers, Miss Gamble who was the Headmistress, and Miss Smith who taught the infants. About this time the children were supplied with slates and sponges for writing.

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Harry left school about 1908 when we was fourteen years of age. Not long after he obtained a job as a porter on the M&GN Joint railway at Thursford. Following this he had other jobs, some in the building trade.

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In 1914 at the age of nineteen Harry was working as a builders labourer at Great Yarmouth. There he married Rose Alice Morris on 2nd September and on the very next day answered Kitchener’s call for volunteers. There is no record of what Rose had to say about this! Lord Kitchener had appealed for 100,000 volunteers and soon after for another 100,000 men. They were referred to as K2 Service Battalions of Kitchener’s Army because they were not regulars and trained at Colchester Barracks.

Harry was posted to the 7th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. Nine months later, on the 23 June, 1915, he was posted to France and fought in Flanders which entitled him to wear the 1914 – 15 Star.

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‘In 1916 at the age of twenty two he was a sergeant. The battle of the Somme, which was fought between 1st July and November, 13th saw terrible losses. In the last week of June one and a half million shells rained down on the German positions then on 1st July the British troops moved forward only to find the Germans had not been badly effected by the bombardment. That morning alone the British suffered 60,000 casualties,20,000 of them died and many others.