Category: Press Releases

An article that did not make the press this month

Back to school

If you would like to jog your memory of the old Halesworth Middle School and Secondary Modern School, Halesworth & District Museum is the place to go. Photos, sports cups, school magazines and a national award for choral singing are just some of the memorabilia in a brand-new display featuring the town’s former schools. Even if you hated your old uniform, you might be tempted to have another look at those old school ties, jumpers etc. There is also a chance to pick up the Middle School bell and give it a ring for old times’ sake.

From 1923 to 1958, Halesworth children aged 5–15 attended the Halesworth Area School, at the site which is now Edgar Sewter Primary School. Those who passed the 11-plus exam had the opportunity to continue their education at Bungay or Beccles, and the rest left school and generally entered the work force.

In 1958, Halesworth Secondary Modern School opened its doors to 11–15-years-olds, on a site facing the Norwich Road. The former Halesworth Area School became Edgar Sewter Primary School, for children aged 5–11. As before, those who passed the 11-plus could go on to Bungay or Beccles.

In the 1970s, Suffolk introduced a three-tier system of education. In Halesworth, this meant children left Edgar Sewter Primary School at age 9, and moved to Halesworth Middle School – on the premises of the former Secondary Modern. At age 13, they transferred to high school in Bungay or Beccles without sitting an 11-plus exam.

Then in 2010, Suffolk reverted to a two-tier system. Edgar Sewter incorporated two extra year groups, so children could stay until they were 11, then their education moved out of Halesworth when they transferred to high school. Halesworth Middle School closed in 2012.

So, whether you were a schoolchild, a parent or indeed both during these years of educational change, why not come and jog your memories at the Museum? There will also be a reunion at the end of this month, so do book a place.

Schools Reunion Evening

Who is invited?
Former pupils of Halesworth Area School, Halesworth Middle School and Halesworth Secondary Modern School, and/or their parents

When is it?
Thursday 27 April, 6–8pm

Where is it?
Halesworth & District Museum

What does it cost?
It’s free, and there will be refreshments

Should I book a place?
Yes. Please email the Museum at office@halesworthmuseum.org.uk, using ‘Reunion’ as the title of your message

Floods past and future

A very different kind of memory will be evoked by another new display. In collaboration with the Ink Festival, Halesworth & District Museum is staging a multimedia focus on flooding – a perennial threat to those of us living in coastal East Anglia.

The Rising Waters display, opening this month, commemorates the disastrous events of 31 January 1953, when the worst floods in recorded history hit the east coast of Britain.

There was no warning, and people had little or no chance to escape from the relentless inundation. The cost, in both human and financial terms, was huge. Along the coasts of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, 307 people died. Farmers in East Anglia lost around 46,000 head of livestock. Nationally, more than 30,000 people were forced from their homes and almost 1,000 miles of coastline was seriously damaged.

Although many inland communities were devasted as the tide rushed across the land, Halesworth itself was not flooded on this occasion. Two Halesworth police officers joined the rescue efforts in Southwold and Walberswick. And local volunteers stepped forward to help with the massive clean-up. In Southwold, the worst of the damage was on Ferry Road, where a tidal wave swept along the River Blyth, destroying homes in its path. Five people in the town were killed – a mother and baby and three elderly women.

Before and after 1953, Halesworth has seen its share of flooding, albeit on a far less devastating scale. Many will remember the incongruous sight of people boating along The Thoroughfare, and the plight of traders trying to save their stock.

And, as the Rising Waters display points out, there are important questions to ask about the future, with the evidence of rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and sometimes bizarre weather conditions. More people live in our region now than in 1953. There are more houses near our coast, and the roads carry far more traffic.

It is now 70 years since the terrible of floods of 1953. How would we cope if they happened again?

Since at least the mid eighteenth century Halesworth has had a strong association with the watch and clockmaking industry.  One of the earliest recorded watchmakers, William Dowsing, can be found in the 1793-8 Universal British Directory.  He was born in Saxmundham in 1774.  Following his father’s death, he moved to Halesworth and secured premises for his watchmaking business in the Market Place (next to the Lincoln Family of Drapers). He traded there for over 50 years until his death in the 1850’s.

George Suggate, was also enumerated in the 1793 Universal Directory. Together with his son, George, they dominated the clock, watch and jewellery trade in Halesworth for almost a century.  George Suggate, Senior was born at Great Bealings Suffolk in 1720.  Soon after marrying Ann Holgate in 1742, he settled in Halesworth and established himself as a watchmaker.  The business flourished – as his advertisement in the Ipswich Journal in 1764, for ‘a good hand’ suggests.  After his death in 1807 his son George successfully continued his father’s trade until his own demise on the 5^th February 1844. George Suggate Junior owned and occupied the house and garden in the Thoroughfare, subsequently utilized by Lloyds Bank.  There is a wall clock in the Angel Hotel, Halesworth signed George Suggate.

John Johnson, who was born in 1781, first appears in Robson’s Directory as Watch & Clockmaker in 1839 and then in other directories until 1846 where he is listed in the Post Office Directory as trading in the Thoroughfare. However, there are also apprentice documents available which refer to a John Johnson, watchmaker of Halesworth two years earlier on the 6^th January 1779 which suggests his father also traded in Halesworth and died in 1789.  Recently several examples of John Johnson Senior’s work have been made available to purchase via auction.

Another early watchmaker in the town was, Framlingham born, Samuel Taylor, firstly listed in Halesworth in Pigot’s 1830 Directory.  The 1841 census informs us he traded in the Market Place.  However, his presence in the town was short lived because sometime before 1851 he returned to his hometown with his wife Rachel.

Peter Canova was born in Italy in 1796. By 1858 he had created his watchmaking and jewellery business in the Thoroughfare, Halesworth, with his Suffolk born wife Susanna.  Although they had four children, it was John his eldest son who took over the business when his father, Peter, died on the 3^rd December 1882.  The 1901 Census informs us they traded at 49 Thoroughfare, Halesworth.  John Canova died on the 30^th October 1906 age 62.

William Wigg was born in Wissett on the 5^th August 1818 and baptised at Halesworth Independent Church a year later. After his marriage in 1839 he established his watchmaking business in the Thoroughfare, Halesworth.  He continued trading there until his death in 1890 aged 72.

Nelson Wellington Newson was also a major watchmaker in Halesworth.  He was born to Stephen and Mary Newson in Chediston Street.  After training as a watchmaker, he acquired his own premises at 13 Thoroughfare, Halesworth.  By 1861 he had developed his skills further, describing himself on the Census as ‘Watchmaker, Silversmith, Jeweller.  He continued working in Halesworth until his death in 1904 aged 75.

Thomas John Parsons was born in Ballencollig, Cork, Ireland.  He trained as a watchmaker in Woolwich.  The 1881 Census informs us he was lodging at the Station Hotel, Bungay Road, Halesworth working as a watchmaker.  By 1891 he had moved to lodgings at 41 Chediston Street where he established himself as a watchmaker in his own right working from his own abode.  He continued to live and work in Chediston Street, remaining single, until his death in 1925.

Sutton Ashford was born in Saxtead, Suffolk in 1851.  After training in Stoke Newington, London he returned to Suffolk, married Louisa Simpson, and began working in Framlingham.  By 1900 he had established his own business at 8 London Road, Halesworth where he developed his business to include clock repair.  He died in 1924 age 74. 

This is a brief outline of the main watchmakers of Halesworth from the late eighteenth century until the mid 1920’s when Robert William Bishop appears to be the last watchmaker listed in Kelly’s Directory at 15 Thoroughfare.  The son of a Norfolk gardener, he established his business in Bungay before moving to Halesworth around 1911.  Further information on any of the watchmakers mentioned above can be found at the Halesworth Museum or ascertained on request via email:  office@halesworthmuseum.org.uk.

The museum will be grateful for any additional information regarding the watch and clockmakers of Halesworth, particularly photographs or images of any items made by these individuals.

Watch & Clock Makers of Halesworth sourced from Local Directories

These directories are available in the Museum’s Local History Room

1793 – Universal British Directory
William Dowsing
George Suggate

1823 – Pigot’s Directory
Robert Bullock
William Dowsing
George Suggate

1830 – Pigot’s Directory
William Dowsing
George Suggate
Samuel Taylor

1839 – Robson’s Directory
William Dowsing
John Johnson
John King
George Suggate
Samuel Taylor
William Wigg

1844 – Whites Directory
William Dowsing, Market Place
John Johnson, Thoroughfare
George Suggate, Thoroughfare
Samuel Taylor, Market Place
William Wigg, & Jeweller, Thoroughfare

1855 – Whites Directory
William Dowsing, Watchmaker
William Ellis (Cutler) Watchmaker
Nelson Newson, Watchmaker
William Wigg, Watchmaker

1858 – Suffolk Directory
Peter Canova, Jeweller, Thoroughfare
William Ellis, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
Nelson Newson, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
William Wigg, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare

1868 – Suffolk Directory
Peter Canova, Watch & Clock maker & Jeweller, Thoroughfare
Nelson Newson, Watch & Clock maker & Jeweller, Thoroughfare
William Wigg, Watch & Clock maker & Jeweller, Thoroughfare

1879 – Post Office Directory
John Canova, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
Nelson Newson, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
William Wigg, Watch & Clockmaker, Thoroughfare

1885 – Post Office Directory
John Canova, Watchmaker & Jeweller, Thoroughfare & Southwold
Nelson Newson, Thoroughfare
Thomas John Parsons, Watchmaker, Pound Street (London Road)
William Wigg, Watchmaker & Jeweller, Thoroughfare

1892 – Kelly’s Directory
James Bishop, Watch & Clockmaker, Thoroughfare
John Canova, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
Nelson Newson, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
Thomas Parsons, Watchmaker, Queen Street (Chediston Street)

1900 – Kelly’s Directory
Sutton Ashford, Watchmaker, London Road
John Canova, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
Nelson Newson, Watchmaker, Thoroughfare
Thomas Parsons, Watchmaker, Chediston Street

1904 – Kelly’s Directory
Sutton Ashford, Watchmaker, 8 London Road
Thomas Parsons, Watchmaker, 41 Chediston Street
Stanley John Wright, Watchmaker, 16 Station Road

1916 – Kelly’s Directory
Sutton Ashford, Watchmaker, 8 London Road
Robert William Bishop, Watchmaker, 15 Thoroughfare
Thomas Parsons, Watchmaker, 41 Chediston Street

1925 – Kelly’s Directory
Robert William Bishop, Watchmaker, 15 Thoroughfare

Spring 2023 display

Many years ago the Museum was able to save some of the memorabilia from Halesworth Middle School. It has been held in storage for many years and now that the Museum has additional display space we can exhibit some of it in a spring exhibitionn display.

A cornucopia of memorabilia from the former Halesworth Area School (now Edgar Sewter Primary School), Halesworth Middle School and Halesworth Secondary Modern School takes pride of place in one of our brand-new display cases. Together, these institutions represent nearly nine decades (1923–2012) of education for local children. They also provide a chronicle of educational reforms and reorganisations across much of the 20^th century.

On permanent display are the achievements boards on which many names of people still living in Halesworth and surrounding villages.

There are reminders of the secondary department of the Area School (now Edgar Sewter Primary School) and the Modern School.

When you visit the Museum you can record your reminiscences in our Memories File, if you wish.

The Museum will be having a Middle School Reunion on the evening of Thursday 27 April from 6pm to 8pm. To ensure that you get an invite email us at office@halesworthmuseum.org.uk with Reunion as the subject. You may also want to add some images and memories in your email.

Looking forward to your visit.

The “Near Blythburgh” Hoard

The “Spink Guide to Coins of England” describes Ancient British coins as “the most interesting and varied of all British coins.” This collection, discovered by a detectorist in 2018 gives Halesworth and District Museum a chance to own some fascinating and unique coins of national importance, but we need your help to achieve this. In this article we will explain what makes them so interesting and worthy of your support and what they tell us about Iron Age East Anglia.

These rare 19 gold coins are amongst some of the earliest coins to be produced in Britain. They are known as “staters” from the Greek meaning “weight” and is a term using to describe ancient coins. It is thought the Celts copied the idea from the ancient Greeks as there are stylistic similarities between the two. Historians believe initially gold coins were minted predominately as war money. They were used to pay troops, pay tribute and in diplomacy. Most people in Iron Age Britain still used barter for everyday trading, or were beginning to use the new low value base metal coins, but gold coins were something for the rich. They were minted by tribal leaders. Gold coins were likely thought of as the local “king’s” money. Recently an alternative view by numismatist John Talbot in a study of Iceni coinage, is that coins could have been used more for trade than had previously been thought. If this is the case these pioneering coins represent a beginnings of a monumental change in British society, the first move away from barter to a cash/coin based economy, something only in our own age, some 2000 years later, we are beginning to witness the end of.

The coins are thought to date from an 85 year period between 60BC to around 25AD. Most knowledge we do have about Britain at this time come from archeology and coins like these, as the only written records we have are fleeting references from Roman sources. The study of the coins identifies rulers and their tribal identity. Experts suggest that a few of these coins have a Kentish (Cantiaci) style to them but are minted by an unknown leader. Two of these coins are of a style or combination not seen before which even the British museum do not have examples of. The majority of the coins in this hoard are attributed or deeply influenced by, the “North Thames” area of the Trinovantes tribe of Essex and South Suffolk. It is thought the coins may reflect a period of unrest started by an invasion by the Cantiaci tribe into the Essex/Thames homelands of the Trinovantes. The Romans tell us at some point the Trinovantes moved their capital from Hertfordshire to what was to become Camulodunium (Colchester) during this period, which may suggest they took back the territory, maybe after some years. This Collection of coins also includes a number that were probably minted by the Iceni tribe of Norfolk and North Suffolk. How do we explain this strange collection of coins and how they ended up in Blythburgh?

One theory could be that Blythburgh and the river Blyth marked a shifting boundary at some point, or a trading or customs/toll post between the Icenian lands to the north and the Trinovantian lands to the south. Perhaps a soldier caught up in the fighting further south was paid in coin and returned home or was posted there. Perhaps they belonged to a rich Trinovantian or Icenian trader, or represented a nest-egg of the new currency. Maybe they were buried for safekeeping or hidden in a long disappeared dwelling and the owner either through conflict or disease never reclaimed them. We shall never know.

The style of these coins is like nothing that came afterwards. These coins have images of animals and strange symbols. Many of the coins contain hidden faces or eyebrows, wheels, plants and swirly patterns. Numismatist Robert Van Arsdell wrote “it is no secret that Celtic artists liked to hide faces in their artwork… The Celts had a fine appreciation for the surreal. They loved now you see it/now you don’t images, Cheshire cat faces appearing and disappearing, foregrounds that fade into backgrounds as new images leap to your attention. The art tied in with their religion, things are not what they seem, behind everyday scenes lurk unseen forces manipulating the action”. Chris Rudd, another expert on English iron age coins writes “Looking at these highly stylised faces with their almost childlike features, I cannot conceive that they are meant to represent human beings; indeed, in a few cases the faces look more like animals or birds. I think they are more plausibly regarded as “spirit faces” — otherworldly faces or Celtic deities or supernatural forces. I feel these human faces have a religious, mythological or magical meaning — a shadowy meaning that is unknown to us today and likely to remain unknowable”. How different these “Blythburgh” coins are from what came next, coins with the head of the leader on one side and a message or symbols on the back, which started with the Romans, and have continued into our own time. There are immense cultural differences on display. These coins give us a glimpse into a strange, very different and largely unknown past. You may like to see what hidden images you can see in these remarkable coins…

Coins 8 and 18. The mysterious “SS” Staters

  8.    18.

Nobody is sure what the double SS symbols meant although they are likely to refer to a local king or tribe. These coins are used to support the idea of the Cantiacian Kentish invasion of Essex as most of this type of coin have been found around Colchester and deeper into East Anglia. The horse image with “clumpy hoofs” is found in Kentish coins and not those of the Essex based Trinovantes tribe. Archaeologist Dr John Sills believes the “SS” may refer to the Segontiaci (meaning “people of the place of strength”) who were mentioned by the Romans as a tribe who surrendered to Julius Caesar in 54BC and suggests that this was the name the breakaway Kentish tribe gave themselves. You can see some hidden images in these coins such as possible faces, crescent moons, a wing motif (coin 18) and other patterns. It is thought these coins were minted between 60-25 BC.

Coins 5, 6, 7, 13-17. The Addedomarus Staters and Quarter Staters

 5.         6.  7.        13.  14.                15.

 16.         17.

Although unscribed, these coins are very similar to others that are that are scribed to one King Addedomarus. Who was King Addedomarus? We know next to nothing about him apart from the coins he minted. It is thought he was a king between 35 and 15 BC. The distribution of his coins suggest he was King of the Trinovantes in Essex although others have suggested he may also have ruled over the kingdom of the Catuvellauni to the west of Essex. His name possibly means “Addedo the Great” although others have suggested it means “Good with chariots”. We think he may have temporarily lost his kingdom to a character called Tasciovanus (‘Strong as a dog”) and that he had a son called Dubnovellaunus (“Killer of badgers’)

It is thought it may be Addedomarus who was buried in the Lexden Tumulus, the best known of many pre-Roman graves found in the Colchester area. Here, between 15 and 10BC, in a pit beneath a large, circular mound, a mature man was buried, surrounded by many luxurious objects of both Celtic and Roman origin. They included bronze figurines, a suit of chain mail, silverwork and goldwork, and a small medallion of the Roman emperor Augustus dated to between 19 and 15 BC – presumably a mark of Roman favour.

Coins 5, 6 and 7

All coins display the horse motif although Coin 7 is not struck properly but contains a wheel. There are also “hidden faces” within these coins. The obverse display a spiral type image (coins 5 and 6) and a crescent and cross (Coin 7). The spirals may contain flowers or grains of wheat or barley images (brewing?). The meaning of these images and patterns is obscure.

Coins 13-17

All these coins contain a daisy wheel/flower image, plus the normal horse images, with hidden faces and other possible symbols. Again the meaning of the flower and the other images is obscure

Coins 3-4, The Freckenham Cross Staters

3.        4.

Another example of a “Freckenham Cross” showing clearer image of “comet”

So named after a hoard of 90 gold coins found in Freckenham , West Suffolk in 1895, the cross referring to the symbols on one side of the coins. These are thought to be Iceni coins. The “cross” on Coin 3 seems more like a dotted “T” shape. Are these just patterns or what did they represent? Coin 3 displays some wonderful “hidden faces” and a mis-struck horse and more strange dots that look a little like a comet. This can be seen more clearly in the picture of a similar Freckenham cross coin. Interestingly Halley’s Comet was visible in 12BC and it is thought these coins were minted between 20BC-20AD. Coin 4 displays a horse a wheel and more hidden faces. Most interesting is the image emerging above the horse’s back. Is it a face with a crown, or perhaps the sun or fragments of writing?

Coins 9-10 The “Mossop Mystery” Quarter Staters

 9.         10.

Named after Henry Mossop a noted collector and numismatist who was the first to identify this type of coin. These are excessively rare: There is one in the British Museum and another found near Bungay was sold in 2015. The reverse of this coin is different to the one in the British Museum. They are thought to date from about 20 BC to 20AD, and that they were a small local issue. The Mossop Mystery has an S-shape between its two crosses above a horse. The other side of the coin has eyebrow patterns or two crescents, or maybe it’s part of a wider ‘face”. Nobody is sure which is why they have the “mystery” tag attached to them.

Coin 11 The “Mildenhall Mystery” Quarter Stater

 11.

This is a very rare coin, there is only one other known example found at Mildenhall. Even the British Museum has no example of this coin. A horse is surrounded by multiple pellets and the design on the other side of the coin is obscure, but faces, “eyebrows” and other patterns can be distinguished. It is thought to date to between 20BC-20AD.

43044 PRIVATE BERTIE CROFT
7TH (SERVICE) BATTALION SUFFOLK REGIMENT
DIED 23RD APRIL 1918
(FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED 28TH APRIL 1917)
AGE 22 YEARS

The early years of Bertie’s life have been difficult to trace, but we know he was born to Ellen Croft, possibly illegitimately, on the 22^nd October 1895.  Ellen herself had been born in Bermondsey, South London, in 1875.  Sixteen years later at the time of the 1891 census, her entry shows that she was in the employ of a Mr Ripps Massingham, a butcher and farmer of the Thoroughfare, Halesworth, where her duties consisted of being a General Servant and Nanny to the family’s five children.  Who fathered Bertie and what name his birth had been registered under remains a mystery, although it appears that Ripps and his wife Elizabeth must have stood by her after Bertie’s birth since she remained in their employment up until the 1901 census, when she is listed as living and working for the family at their premises, No.1 Thoroughfare, although there is no sign of Bertie.  In 1905 Ripps died.  Shortly after his death Ellen married Ernest Spoore, a brewers drayman in the first quarter of 1906. She then moved into his home at 76 London Road.  At the time of the 1911 census Bertie appears to have eventually appeared on official records, since a lad of his name and age is listed as a house boy, resident in the Walberswick Cottage Home for invalided and crippled boys, with at least one described as being feeble-minded, their ages ranging from seven to fifteen years of age.

As the seaside village of Walberswick lies just eight miles to the east of Halesworth, this might be Ellen’s son, although, as a further twist in this particular tale, on this census his place of birth is shown as Manchester.  However, a search of the birth records for that period and location shows no sign of a boy of that name having been born there.

Unlike the majority of all British fatal casualties of the Great War, Bertie’s service papers survive.  These, combined with other sources of research, enable the researcher to produce a fairly accurate pen-picture of the trials and tribulations of his life in khaki up until the time of his death.  On the 1^st October 1914 he set out from his then home in the village of Hacheston, which is situated close to the town of Wickham Market, to travel the not inconsiderable distance for those times of some twenty-seven miles to the town of Beccles, on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, in order to enlist in the town’s Territorials of the 6^th (Cyclist) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment T.F.  Why he made this journey when he could have signed up in any of the towns close to his home is not clear.  Furthermore he would have had to pass close to Halesworth where he could have enlisted while visiting his mother.  One possible answer could be that he may have been a keen cyclist with his own bicycle and would have been happy to join a Cyclist Battalion with like-minded volunteers.  After passing the necessary medical examination and documentation he was enlisted to serve as a Private Soldier with the regimental number of 1764.  This would have changed after 1917 when members of the Territorial Force were brought into line with the rest of the army, with Bertie receiving the new number of 43044.  His personal details as entered on his enlistment papers stated that he was nineteen years of age, that he was 5 ft 6 ins tall and had a chest measurement of 35 inches. His trade or calling is listed as being a general labourer with a later entry showing him as being a horse dealer.  For his next of kin he nominated his stepfather, Ernest, and his mother, Ellen, now living at Bramfield Hill near Halesworth.

After carrying out ten days’ basic training in the Beccles drill hall, Bertie, along with others from his intake, were transferred to the Suffolk town of Leiston where they were found accommodation in and around the works of Richard Garrett and Sons, manufacturers of steam traction engines.  While there, it was decided to form a second battalion of cyclists with the original Territorials and new recruits split between the two new units, now known as the 1^st/6^th and 2^nd/6^th (Cyclist) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  Both of these units were to remain in England employed in the Home Defence role since being cyclists, they were able to patrol large areas of the eastern counties coastline where it was believed any invading forces would land.  Bertie was posted to join the 2^nd/6^th Battalion, who after a short time, were relocated to be based in and around the town of Louth near the Lincolnshire coast.

Over the next few months Bertie would have completed his training and been posted to serve in one of his Battalion’s four companies.  Each of them were now stationed at various points between Skegness and Sutton-on-Sea to carry out their patrols.  Within the local population it was reported that the people of Lincolnshire really grew fond of the sturdy men from Suffolk, which lead to several romances.

As the war progressed and the number of casualties mounted to many hundreds of thousands, men of the right age groups were asked if they were prepared to serve overseas.  It appears that Bertie volunteered with many of his comrades of the 2^nd/6^th.  Their time came shortly after the opening phase of the battle of the Somme with the massive losses inflicted during the first week in July 1916.  By mid-July Bertie had joined a draft of men from the 2/6^th Suffolks who were transported by train to Folkestone on the Kent coast.  From there they sailed to France, landing at Boulogne on the 26^th July.  After a short time spent at a reinforcement centre, he and several of his comrades were posted to join the 7^th (Service) Battalion Suffolk Regiment on the 12^th August 1916.  His new battalion had been formed at Bury St Edmunds in August 1914 after Lord Kitchener’s appeal for young men to enlist in a totally New Army.  After training they had crossed to France in May 1915.  The Battalion had taken part in the opening few days of the Somme offensive, suffering four hundred and eighty casualties on the 3^rd July alone.  By the time that the reinforcements joined them in the area of Bouzing Court they had just been once again relieved from the firing line and desperately needed a large number of casualty replacements.  Initially posted to ‘A’ Company Bertie began his eleven months of service with the 7^th Suffolks, during which time he quickly learnt that the life of a front-line infantryman was a total change from that of a military cyclist patrolling the coastline of Lincolnshire.

At 4.28am on the 28^thApril 1917 Bertie, with his battalion, left their trenches situated to the front of the village of Pelves in the Arras sector.  Their role that morning was to support an attack on the German front line with the 7^th Norfolk Regiment and the 5^th Royal Berkshires in the vanguard of the assault, the plan being that when the two forward battalions began to take casualties, the Suffolks could then pass through them to continue the advance and, it was hoped to enter the enemy’s line.  Right from the start, the Germans were alert to the troop movements and began to pour machine gun fire into the advancing Tommies.  This was also backed up by very heavy fire from the enemy’s artillery.  Poor Bertie was caught in the barrage, suffering severe shrapnel wounds to his abdomen and back.  Luckily for him he was picked up by his Battalion’s stretcher-bearers and carried to the rear where he would then have entered the evacuation chain that finally found him as a patient in the Stockport Military hospital in the north-west of England.  Here he underwent major surgery.  This caused him to stay in hospital recuperating for the next ten months.

On his release from the hospital he was medically assessed and was declared to be unfit for any further military service due to wounds.  He was then discharged from the army, having served a total of three years and one hundred and two days.  On the 10^th January 1918, due to the nature of his discharge being honourable, he was awarded a Silver War Badge.  These had been issued to men who had qualified from the 12^th September 1916, in order that the men wearing the badge and not in uniform would not be harassed for not doing their duty.  Each badge bore a number to prove it had been issued to the individual concerned.  Bertie was number 300690.  As with many other discharged ex members of the military, he was found work to help the war effort, although because of his injuries, he was not able to undertake heavy activities.  After training he was appointed as an inspector at the Chilwell National Artillery Shell Filling Factory, that was situated in Nottinghamshire.

From a report written in the Halesworth Times newspaper of the 21^st May 1918, recording Bertie’s death, it seems that barely after three months of being employed in his new role the strain of the work was too much for him and his death followed after a few days of illness at the young age of twenty-two years.  The article goes on to describe his funeral with full military honours, with him being laid to rest at St Michaels Church, Brumcote, Nottinghamshire on the 2^nd May 1918.

The chief mourners present were his mother, Mrs Ellen Croft, (why she was listed under her maiden name is not known) and Bertie’s fiancée, Miss Elaine Clarke.  Where they had met and become engaged to be married remains a further mystery. Today Bertie’s grave, complete with military headstone, remains one of three in the churchyard maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

After his death, his mother, as his next of kin, received a weekly pension of 3s 6d (18p) rising to 5s 0d (25p) after November 1918.  This was followed by a gratuity of £15.0s.0d (£15.00p) awarded in February 1920.  She would also have been entitled to receive his medals which consisted of the British War and Victory medal pair with his named memorial plaque and scroll.

The location of these is unknown.

Postcard of London Road, Halesworth 1916
Where Bertie’s mother was living

200280 PRIVATE FREDERICK HERBERT JAMES COWLES
1/4TH BATTALION, SUFFOLK REGIMENT (T.F.)
KILLED IN ACTION
23RD APRIL 1917
AGE 22 YEARS

Frederick or Fred as he was known had been born in the town during the second quarter of 1895.  He was the first child of nine born to Herbert, a coach trimmer and his second wife, Sarah (née Cornish).  All of Fred’s early life had been spent living in Chediston Street which at that time had a not very desirable reputation and was commonly known by some as the slums of Halesworth.  On leaving school in 1909 he originally found work as a draper’s boy, possibly for Roe and Co who had premises in the Market Place.  Later, his father Herbert, wishing his son to learn a trade, managed to obtain a position for him with the East Suffolk Carriage Works in Bridge Street, a company that Herbert had been employed by from the age of twelve years some forty-five years earlier.  He also encouraged Fred to enlist in the Halesworth Territorials, having himself been a long-serving and keen member of the town’s Rifle Volunteers, the forerunner of the Territorial Force that had been formed in 1908, Fred’s original Regimental number of 1788 shows that he had enlisted in November 1913.  Sadly, Herbert passed away in July 1914 at the age of sixty, which left Fred as one of the main sources of income for the family.

A month after the outbreak of World War 1 the Halesworth Times newspaper of the 25^th August 1914 printed an article by the rector of St Mary’s Parish Church, the Reverend A.C. Moore, in which he listed every one hundred and twenty-eight men from the town who were at that time serving in the Armed Forces, including those who were members of the local ‘F’ Company of Territorials.  These men had been mobilised on the 6^th August and had joined with their comrades from other towns in the east of Suffolk to undergo intensive training at Felixstowe. Each of these men fell into one of two categories, the first being Officers and men who had signed the Imperial Service Obligation which committed them, if it was considered necessary, to serve overseas.  For this they received a small sum of money and were then authorised to wear above their right tunic pocket a small badge known as the ‘Imperial Service Brooch’.  The second group consisted of men who for whatever reason, felt that they were not able to make this commitment and were only prepared to serve under the original terms of service, being purely that of home defence.

Fred was listed in the second category.  It is possible that he felt, after his father’s recent death, he should remain in England to support his mother.  Another factor was that several of the younger members of the company who had not reached the minimum age required under the Territorial Force Regulations for men to serve overseas being that of 19 years of age.  It was later reported that a number of these boys claimed that they celebrated their birthdays over the previous few days before they had sailed to France, to which their Officers and Sergeants must have turned a blind eye.  As such was the excitement of what they must have felt was the beginning of a great adventure.  Little did they know of the horrors that lay ahead of them.  It is not known when Fred was eventually reunited with his pals from Halesworth who remained serving in the 1/4^th Suffolks but as the British casualty numbers increased daily there was a desperate requirement for men to replace them, so irrespective of their original Territorial commitment, Home Defence men were now being sent to the front line as replacements.

There are two items of research that would suggest that his time came sometime in the Spring of 1916.  Firstly, at the war’s end, each man or woman who had served overseas would have qualified to be awarded service medals.  Their entitlement would have been listed on an individual index card.  These can still be seen today. Fred’s card shows that he had not been awarded either of the medal stars awarded for the years 1914 or 1915, indicating that he must have landed in France sometime after the first day of 1916.  Further research shows that in the first quarter of 1916 he had married a Harriet Manning in her hometown of Colchester in Essex.  The town having been a Garrison, with several military barracks and camp, it is possible they could have first met when he had been stationed there after the men of the 1/4^th Suffolks had gone their separate ways.

On the 16^th April 1917, the 1/4^th Suffolks were serving in the 98^th Brigade of the 33^rd Division where they were in the process of taking over a section of trenches that had recently been captured from the Germans who had named it the Hindenburg line.  On inspection the Tommies were shocked at the construction and facilities their enemy enjoyed in comparison to their own trench systems, for they found underground sleeping quarters with properly constructed bunk beds etc.  After four days they were relieved and moved back to outside of the French village of Neuville-Vitasse in preparation for a forthcoming attack that was due to take place in the early hours of 23^rd April.  After barely twenty-four hours rest, they were moved back into the front line, relieving the 20^th Royal Fusiliers.  Zero hour was set to be at 4.45am on the morning of 23^rd April, St Georges Day.  At the allotted time, the Suffolks climbed out of their trenches and advanced along the line of the Hindenburg trench system that remained in German hands.  Initially all went well, with the hastily built barricades erected by the retreating enemy quickly torn down. The advance of the Suffolks was now so rapid that those battalions to their left and right were unable to keep pace with them.  The battalion war diary for the day reports that by 6.30am their companies were just two hundred yards short of their final objective but, with both flanks exposed, they were forced to halt their advance and prepare for the inevitable counter-attack, which the Germans mounted against them just three hours later.  With the Suffolks’ numbers dwindling and the enemy now able to attack them from the rear, they were compelled to carry out a hasty withdrawal over open ground, back to their original positions.  By 5.30pm the remains of the battalion had regrouped in their section of the line.  When the Roll was called it was found they had lost one officer and forty-one other ranks confirmed killed, with another one hundred and sixty men wounded and a total of one hundred and four men missing.  The last figure possibly included young Fred; whose body was never identified.  Today he is remembered on the Arras Memorial to the missing.

Although the day had proven costly in casualties for the 4^th Suffolks, they had inflicted equally heavy losses on the Germans, with an unknown number of dead and wounded as well as over six hundred and forty prisoners taken.  Regarding the number of prisoners, a humorous anecdote included in the Regimental History illustrates the unshakeable humour of the British Tommy.  When one of the smallest men in the battalion appeared in the rear area, escorting some seventy prisoners on his own, he was asked how he had managed to collect so many by himself.  He replied that “He had surrounded them”.

The Halesworth Times of the 8^th January 1918 reported that Fred’s mother, who had since married Arthur Driver of 58 Chediston Street, had received notification that her son Fred, who had been missing ever since the 23d April of the previous year, was now listed as having been Killed in Action.  It also stated that his young wife Harriet remained living in Colchester where she would have been awarded a widow’s weekly pension of 13s 9d (69p) which was followed during 1918-19 by a total of £18.17s.8d (£18.88p) in war gratuity.

She would also have been entitled to have received Fred’s British War and Victory medal pair and his named memorial plaque and scroll.

The location of these awards is not known.

20 YEARS
VOLUNTEER LONG SERVICE MEDAL
AWARDED TO
701 PRIVATE HERBERT COWLES
‘F’ COMPANY
1^ST VOLUNTEER BATTALION, SUFFOLK REGIMENT
MARCH 1901
FRED’S FATHER

18536 PRIVATE JAMES CONSTANCE
2ND BATTALION SUFFOLK REGIMENT
KILLED IN ACTION
2ND MARCH 1916
AGE 34 YEARS

Another of the Halesworth war dead who originally hailed from one of the local villages was James Constance who was born at Linstead Parva in the second quarter of 1882.  He was the fifth child of John, a farm labourer, and Hannah (née Page).  All of his early years were spent living in and around his village where, after completing his education, he followed his father into working the land.  At that time, it was also common for some of the local farm hands, on completion of the planting and sowing the seeds for the season, to travel to nearby Lowestoft and find work on one of the many fishing boats operating from the port, returning back to their villages to harvest the crops at the end of the summer.  In 1908 James married Florence Hurren from the neighbouring village of Linstead Magna.  No doubt deciding on a more stable married life, within a year James had found regular employment as a maltster employed by Parry and Sons of Quay Street, Halesworth while living at 148 Chediston Street with their first child Arthur, born in May 1910.

Sometime after the outbreak of the war, the Halesworth Times reported on the 23^rd February 1915 that James was one of a group of 8 local men who had volunteered to serve in the Suffolk Regiment.  By this time he had three young sons and now they were living at 23 London Road.

Over the following six months James trained in the art of becoming a soldier, until almost six months from the date of his enlistment he crossed to France on the 24^th August 1915 to join the 2^nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment to serve as a Private Soldier with the service number of 18536.

On Britain’s declaration of war on the 4^th August 1914, the 2^nd Suffolks, being a Regular Army Battalion, were stationed at the Curragh, a vast military training ground and garrison in County Kildare, Ireland.  Within ten days the entire Battalion that numbered twenty-eight Officers and nine hundred and seventy-one other ranks had been mobilised and then transported to France joining the British Expeditionary Force.  Within days of landing they had pushed north over the Belgian border to meet the German forces marching on Paris.  On 23^rd August they experienced their first skirmish with the enemy, losing three soldiers killed.  Little did they realise at that time that these would be the first of many hundreds who would be killed, wounded or taken prisoner in what would become known as the Great War.

At the time of James joining the 2^nd Suffolks they had been relieved from the front line and were at rest in a camp at Ouderdom, close to the Belgian/French border.  Over the following seven months the battalion continued to move in and out of the  

Firing line.  Within a month of Jame’s arrival, they were involved in the fighting during the early days of the Battle of Loos that raged from the 25^thSeptember to the 8^th October 1915.  Christmas Day 1915 was spent in trenches in the area of the Ypres-Comines canal, with each side indulging in its own meagre celebrations unmolested by the other.  The new year brought much more of the same for the battalion with many harsh winter days both in and out of the firing line, many spent in the open.  On the 1^st March 1916, during the night prior to Jame’s death the 2^nd Suffolks moved forward into the assembly trenches in preparation for a planned early morning attack on the German line.  This was timed to commence at 4.30am.  Now, for the first time, all Officers and men were equipped with the new steel helmet, where up to this point the main headdress worn by the majority of the British army consisted of a soft cloth cap or bonnet, but with the development of more and more sophisticated weapons such as airburst shells that would explode several feet above the trenches showering those below with red hot balls of metal, it was decided to develop head protection similar in design to those worn hundreds of years before by the English archers at the Battle of Agincourt.

The Suffolk Regiment history, published in 1928, records the actions of the 2^nd March 1916 thus: “As our men rose from their trenches a tremendous roar of machine gun and rifle fire burst forth from the brigade on our right in support of the battalion’s advance.  The attack was a complete success with the enemy driven back from their front line by 7am.”

As with all of these battles it came at a very heavy cost in flesh and blood.  The 2^nd Suffolks suffered some two hundred and fifty casualties, which would have been almost half out of a total of five hundred taken into action, James being just one.  Sadly, no identifiable remains could be found of James, as he is listed today on the Ypres (Menin Gate) memorial to the missing, his but one name in a total of fifty-four thousand, three hundred and ninety-five others.

The sad news of Jame’s death must have taken some time to reach his poor wife Florence, with his death finally being announced in the Halesworth Times newspaper of the 4^th April 1916.

After her loss Florence would have continued to receive James’ soldier’s pay up until the 18^th September 1916 when she was granted a war widow’s pension of £1.0s.6d (£1.2p) for her and the three children, all of which were under the age of seven years, with each child being admissible to be included up to the age of sixteen.

This pension was followed in July 1919 when she received the sum of £4.4s.0d (£4.20p) in war gratuity.  She would also have received her husband’s medal entitlement of the 1915 Star trio, Memorial Plaque and Scroll.

These, minus the scroll, are now in the collection of the Halesworth and District   Museum. (See below)

An original copy of a condolence card printed on behalf of his mother

P5/2549 CORPORAL WILLIAM GEORGE COLE
16TH (SERVICE) BATTALION, MIDDLESEX REGIMENT
(PUBLIC SCHOOLS)
KILLED IN ACTION
1ST JULY 1916
AGE 24 YEARS

William was the older brother of Leonard (see previous).  He had been born in Halesworth in the third quarter of 1892.  He was the third child and son of John and Catherine of London Road.  After schooling, in 1906 he found work with W.H. Smith at their newspaper stand on Halesworth railway station where he must have been well thought of as by the time of the 1911 Census he was listed as boarding and working in Chelmsford, Essex.  His profession was listed as a Station Bookseller.

Regarding William’s military service in the Great War, it is a very lucky situation in that his enlistment and service records remain courtesy of the National Archives.  The likelihood of these still being available is very small as the vast majority of the records attributed to those soldiers who lost their lives were destroyed in the London Blitz during World War 2.

From information found within his service records, at the time of his enlistment on the 15^th July 1915 we know that he had remained employed as a Bookstall Clerk and at that time was living and working at Brockley in South East London.  Interestingly, instead of enlisting in his local recruiting office, he had travelled to Woldingham in Surrey to enlist into the 16^th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Public Schools) who at that time were then in training.  His reasoning for this is not known but it is possible he had a friend already serving with them.  The reference to Public Schools in their title originated from the then Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener’s, appeal for men to join what was titled a New Army that would consist of groups of friends, members of clubs and those from the same towns and districts to enlist together into what became known as ‘Pals’ Battalions’ of infantry and supporting arms such as Regiments of Artillery.  On their formation, those who were raised as infantry battalions would then be affiliated to their local County Regiments.  Formed in September 1914, the 16^th Middlesex had originally recruited young men and older boys who had received a private education and no doubt came from a similar social background.  As the war progressed, more of these initial recruits became casualties or were considered to be of the Officer Class and were then commissioned to serve in other Regiments.  Their places were filled by men from right across the social divide.  One such recruit was William, becoming PS2549, a Private soldier in the battalion.  The 16^th Middlesex landed at Boulogne on the 17^th November 1915.  William who had possibly been behind, with his training incomplete, having enlisted later, joined them on the 8^th January 1916.  He soon settled down to the life of a front-line infantryman as, within four months of joining his battalion, he had risen two ranks, becoming a Corporal.

The day of William’s death, 1^st July 1916, would go down in the annals of British Military History as the most costly in the loss of human life and suffering in any single day, with a total of nineteen thousand, two hundred and forty men killed in action from a total of fifty-seven thousand, four hundred and seventy men listed as casualties.  Now known as the first day of the Battle of the Somme, it involved on the British side many of the New Army Service Battalions that had been formed less than two years before taking part in their first major attack.

Prior to ‘Going Over The Top’ on that fateful day the German lines and strong points had been subjected to a full seven days of bombardment by the British Artillery who in that period fired over 1.5 million shells, the object being not only to neutralise and destroy the German defences but also to cut lanes through the many hundreds of miles of barbed wire that criss-crossed in front of their trenches.

William and his comrades of the 16^th Middlesex were now part of the 86^th Brigade of the 29^th Division who were tasked with being a reserve Battalion.  During the early hours they formed up in the support line in preparation to follow the main assault and deploy wherever they would be needed during the battle to storm the German strongpoints around the French village of Beaumont-Hamel.  They were eventually called forward  at 7.40am and as they advanced over ‘No Man’s Land’ they witnessed the dead and dying men from the first wave, with many of them cut down around the small breaches made within the enemy’s barbed wire entanglements.  It later transpired that up to one third of the British shells that had been fired during the pre-attack bombardment were of a shrapnel nature, which when fired against troops in the open proved to be devastating but when used against static targets or wire were of very little use.  Many of those who were killed that day were caused by concentrated machine gun fire, from those weapons that had been hidden away from the British observers and had been brought forward to inflict carnage at the last moment.

Nothing is known regarding the circumstances of William’s death other than that he was one of the total of five hundred and twenty-four casualties that were recorded by the 16^th Middlesex that day.  Exactly one month later the Halesworth Times of the 1^st August 1916 reported that William was missing in action.  This was followed at the end of the year by an article in the Lambert Almanack for 1917 that also reported that Corporal W Cole had been missing in action ever since the 1^st July.  This would  have been a very worrying situation for his parents, not knowing whether William had been killed or maybe had been made a prisoner of war.  Their grief must have been further compounded a little over a year later when they heard that another of their five sons, Leonard, had met his end while fighting in Flanders. Sadly Leonard’s remains were never found, although William’s body was eventually and he was able to be identified and laid to rest in Beaumont-Hamel military cemetery.  During the preparation of his headstone John and Catherine were asked if they would like a personal inscription added to the stone.  They chose ‘HE GAVE HIS ALL’.

In August 1919 John received a gratuity of £6.19s.4d (£6.97p) paid for the life of his son. 

As well as the gratuity he would also have been entitled to claim his son’s medal awards of the British War and Victory medal pair with a named memorial plaque and scroll. 

The location of these is unknown.

Leonard and William’s parents, John and Catherine
After they had moved to Nottingham

200374 SERGEANT (ACT C.S.M)
LEONARD JAMES COLE
1/4^TH BATTALION SUFFOLK REGIMENT T.F.
KILLED IN ACTION
26^TH SEPTEMBER 1917
AGE 23 YEARS

Leonard James Cole had been born in Halesworth during the third quarter of 1894. He was the fourth child of seven raised by John, a coal merchant, and his wife Catherine (née Leach) at their home in London Road.  On beginning his education, a young Leonard soon proved himself to be a more than average sportsman, particularly on the soccer field where he later went on to play for local senior teams, although his main claim to fame in the sporting arena came in 1907 when he was one of the Halesworth Boys School relay swimming team who won the Lady Gooch Challenge Shield.  This competition was held annually and was hotly contested by all of the local schools, including six from the seaside town of Lowestoft.  The Halesworth Times newspaper of the 1st October 1907, in reporting their victory, compared the facilities of the Lowestoft teams, who had free access to the town’s swimming baths with the local lads who carried out all of their training in the river Blyth.  The small named silver shield that at the time had been attached to the trophy illustrates just how the forthcoming War to End All Wars would decimate an entire generation of British manhood with three of the four boys named, including Leonard, going on to lose their lives, the fourth being discharged from the army due to wounds.

It is also believed that not only did Leonard excel at sport.  On leaving school he was accepted to begin a much sought-after apprenticeship with Smith and Co., the East Suffolk Carriage and Motor Works at their premises in Bridge Street, Halesworth.  He had followed his elder brother John who, having completed his apprenticeship with Smiths was, by the time of the 1911 census, being employed by a coach-building company in Harrogate, Yorkshire.  At the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Leonard, after the initial rush to sign up had died  down, had eventually volunteered to serve in the Suffolk Regiment in mid-November with the Regimental number of 2750.  He was originally posted to serve in the 11^th (Service) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  By this time, the Army had such a backlog of volunteers requiring to be trained to become a soldier, it would be a full year before he was sent to the front.  His time came when he landed at Rouen, France, on the 23rd January 1916.   Soon after, on the 4th February, he was posted to join ‘C’ Company, 1/4th Suffolk’s where he would have met up with several old Territorial friends from the town.  During the following months, Leonard, with his Battalion, would have spent several periods both in and out of the firing line, including, after the 14th July, becoming involved in the Somme battles where by the end of that month, they had suffered a total of three hundred and fifty-four casualties in dead and wounded.  To make up for some of these losses in junior leaders, Leonard was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 29th July.  Within a month of receiving his first stripe he had suffered a slight wound but had returned to duty within five days where he must have continued to impress his superiors, as within six weeks he received further promotion to that of a full Corporal while serving in the trenches.

For the remaining months of 1916, the 4th Suffolks continued to be involved and included in several actions both major and minor, each causing a loss in both Officers and Men, with many of the original Territorials now missing from their ranks.  The new year of 1917 found Leonard and his comrades now located in the area of the northern French hamlet of Villiers-Sous-Ailly where they underwent three weeks of further training.  Shortly after, and under a new Army directive, all units of the Territorial Force would be brought into line with the Army’s regimental numbering system in which all of their soldiers would now have a six-digit number from a block allocated to the Suffolk Territorials.  Leonard, who had also received further promotion, became 200674, a Lance Sergeant.  In mid-April 1917 his battalion received orders to relieve the 1st Cameronians from their trenches.  This included a section of the old German Hindenburg Line.  The relief took place during the night of the 16th and 17^th.  As with similar situations, the Germans were not slow to react to troop movements.  During their barrage of artillery and machine gun fire that followed, the 4th Suffolks suffered four soldiers killed and thirteen wounded, Leonard being one of the latter, having received a gunshot wound to his back.  After receiving treatment at No.2 Casualty Clearing Station on the 20th April, he was admitted to the 18th General Hospital.  Here he remained for the following seven weeks until he was considered fit to re-join his Battalion.  Shortly after his return to active service, he had been granted a full month’s home leave.  Whether he returned to Halesworth is not known as by this time his parents had relocated to the Hyson’s Green area of Nottingham where his father John was now engaged in work for the Government.

In an item written in the Halesworth Times in March 1917 his parents thanked the people of the town and surrounding area for their support during the time they had been in business.  They also reported that all of their five sons were serving in the army  in France, with their third son William having been reported as missing during the previous July.

On the 30^th July 1917 Leonard returned to the 4^th Suffolks who were at that time in the process of leaving the Somme region for new battlefields in the Flanders area of Belgium.  Within weeks of their move he had received further promotion in rank, now acting in the role of the Company Sergeant Major in ‘C’ Company, this being the most senior Non-Commissioned rank within a company.  This once again illustrates how highly he was regarded by the senior Officers within the Battalion, especially considering his young age of just twenty-three years.  By mid-September 1917, the 4^th Suffolks were holding a section of the support line in the area of Bellegoed Farm.  On the 24^th of the month they were ordered forward in preparation for a planned attack on the German trenches that was due to be mounted at 5.30am on the morning of the 26^th.  It was while the Battalion were preparing themselves ‘To Go Over The Top’ that the German artillery, sensing something was afoot, immediately laid down a barrage, once again concentrating their fire on the British front-line trenches.  This caused casualties among the tightly packed troops who were formed up for the attack.  Just fifteen minutes after the scheduled time, the remnants of the battalion broke out of the confines of the trench and headed in the direction of the German line, one small party of just twenty or so men led by Captain Stuart Scrimgeour M.C. who had local connections to Halesworth and would later live at Wissett Hall.  He with another Officer and some twenty or so men, managed to enter a section of the German front line which they held for some time before hearing the order to withdraw.  This they then carried out, taking with them two captured heavy machine guns and thirteen prisoners.  It is not known if Leonard would have been a member of this group or had become a casualty earlier during the German barrage, but following a roll call it was found that the Battalion had lost a total of two Officers and forty-three men killed, with a further sixty-three men missing.  Leonard was one of the latter as his remains were neither found or identified.  Today Leonard is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing.

The Halesworth Times newspaper of the 30^th October 1917 reported on Leonard’s loss.  Although his mother and father had recently moved home, they and their sons were still much respected in the town. 

As neither his father nor his mother were dependent on their son’s earnings, they did not qualify for a military pension, although his father, having been nominated as his son’s next of kin, had received a war gratuity of £22.2s.6d (£22.12p).

He was also entitled to claim his son’s medal awards of the British War and Victory medal pair with a named memorial plaque and scroll.

The location of these is unknown.

Leonard’s name listed on the
Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing