Selected Biographies

Britton, Alphonsus – Born: Lawshall, Suffolk on 9.12.1886.[1]  Parents: Henry James Britton (Agricultural Labourer) and Lydia Louisa [née Bigg] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Henry James Britton of Long Melford [b1872], William Britton [b1880], Roland Britton [b1882], Edwin Britton [b1887] and Sidney Britton [b1891]; also, brother-in-law of Thomas William Cutting [b1876].  Home: Audley End Road, Lawshall, Suffolk (1891, 1901), lodging with Alfred Crouch (Farmer) at Little West Farm, Lawshall (1911), 1 Council Houses, Cooks Road, Thingoe, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Rake Maker (1901), Rake and Hurdle Maker (1911), Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Lottie Smith in 1911.  Service Record: No definitive military record has been found.  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 1941.

Britton, Edwin – Born: Lawshall, Suffolk in 1887.  Parents: Henry James Britton (Agricultural Labourer) and Lydia Louisa [née Bigg] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Henry James Britton of Long Melford [b1872], William Britton [b1880], Roland Britton [b1882], Alphonsus Britton [b1886] and Sidney Britton [b1891]; also, brother-in-law of Thomas William Cutting [b1876].  Home: Audley End Road, Lawshall, Suffolk (1891 to 1911).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Edwin enlisted on 29.8.1914 as Dvr.94192 with ‘A’ Battery, LXIV [Howitzer] Brigade, Royal Field Artillery and was posted to France from 2.6.1915 to 21.11.1917 as part of 12^th [Eastern] Division.  His Battery was in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915, and at the Battles of the Somme in 1916.  Edwin received gunshot wounds to his right eye and left foot on 12.4.1917, being discharged as physically unfit on 14.2.1918 due to partial blindness.[2]

Britton, Henry James – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 5.1.1872.[3]  Parents: Henry James Britton (Agricultural Labourer) and Lydia Louisa [née Bigg] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to William Britton [b1880], Roland Britton [b1882], Alphonsus Britton [b1886], Edwin Britton [b1887] and Sidney Britton [b1891]; also, brother-in-law of Thomas William Cutting [b1876].  Home: Audley End Road, Lawshall, Suffolk (1881), Suffolk Regimental Depot, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1911), 17 Risbygate Street, Bury St Edmunds (1939).  Occupation: Gardener (1891), Soldier (1892 to 1913), Hotel Tap Manager [1913], Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Emma Louisa Robinson in 1898.  Service Record: Henry enlisted in 1892 as Pte.3361 with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, served in the Second Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902, transferring as C/Sgt.5/3519 to 5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment [Territorial] in 1908, being discharged after 21 years’ service in 1913 while serving in ‘D’ Company, 4^th [Reserve] Battalion, Suffolks.  Henry re-enlisted on 1.6.1915 as CSM.3519 with 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolks.  He did not follow the rest of the Battalion to Gallipoli, seeing only Home Service before being discharged through ill health on 14.9.1916.[4]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1955.

Britton, Roland – Born: Lawshall, Suffolk in 1882.  Parents: Henry James Britton (Agricultural Labourer) and Lydia Louisa [née Bigg] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Henry James Britton of Long Melford [b1872], William Britton [b1880], Alphonsus Britton [b1886], Edwin Britton [b1887] and Sidney Britton [b1891]; also, brother-in-law of Thomas William Cutting [b1876].  Home: Audley End Road, Lawshall, Suffolk (1891 and 1901).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer [1914].  Service Record: Roland enlisted on 29.1.1914 as a Waggoner, Dvr.HT/730 with the [Horse Transport] Company, 6^th Reserve Park, Army Service Corps, being posted to France from 20.8.1914 to 7.1.1916, receiving his discharge a fortnight later.  He re-enlisted at Beverley in Yorkshire as Pte.40636 with 1^st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment and was posted again to the Western Front as part of 2^nd Brigade, 1^st Division.[5]  Died: Roland was killed in action near Poelcappelle in Belgium on 10.11.1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres.  He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing [panel 104 and 105], West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, and on a memorial plaque in All Saints Church, Lawshall, Suffolk.[6]

Britton, Sidney – Born: Lawshall, Suffolk on 28.1.1891.[7]  Parents: Henry James Britton (Agricultural Labourer) and Lydia Louisa [née Bigg] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Henry James Britton of Long Melford [b1872], William Britton [b1880], Roland Britton [b1882], Alphonsus Britton [b1886] and Edwin Britton [b1887]; also, brother-in-law of Thomas William Cutting [b1876].  Home: Audley End Road, Lawshall, Suffolk (1891 to 1911), emigrated to Canada [1913].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Sydney enlisted on 15.9.1915 as Pte.427607 with 13^th Battalion [Royal Highlanders of Canada], being posted to France as part of 3^rd Canadian Brigade, 1^st Canadian Division.  His unit saw action during the Second Battles of Ypres in 1915, the Somme Offensive of 1916, and at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.  It was on the third day of this latter engagement that Private Britton lost his life.[8]  Died: Sidney was killed in action on 12.4.1917 and buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension [grave ref: II.A.10], Aubigny-en-Artois, Pas-de-Calais, France and is commemorated on a memorial plaque in All Saints Church, Lawshall, Suffolk.[9]

Related Biography

Cutting, Thomas ‘William’ – Born: Ixworth Thorpe, Suffolk on 29.7.1876.[10]  Parents: William Cutting (Agricultural Labourer) and Isabella [née Newman].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Henry James Britton [b1872] of Long Melford, William Britton [b1880], Roland Britton [b1882], Alphonsus Britton [b1886], Edwin Britton [b1887] and Sidney Britton [b1891].  Home: Raingate Court, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1881, 1891), 89 Vinery Road, Cambridge [1920], 12-14 Purplett Street, Ipswich, Suffolk (1939), 12 Dillwyn Street, Ipswich [1954].  Occupation: Labourer [1894], Soldier [1894] to (1911), Club Steward (1939).  Married: Ellen Barbara Britton in 1905.  Service Record: William enlisted in 1894 as Pte.3729 with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted as part of the South African Field Force in 1899.  During the Second Anglo-Boer War Cutting’s unit acted as mounted infantry, seeing action at Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill and the Relief of Kimberley.  By the date of his marriage in 1905 he had reached the rank of Colour Sergeant.  Between 1908 and 1910 he was posted to Malta, later transferring 1/1^st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment [Territorials] in England.  His career continued as an instructor in the Territorials throughout the First World War, and by his discharge in 1920 was serving with 51^st [Graduated] Battalion, Hampshire Regiment as part of the Army of Occupation on the Rhine.[11]  Died: Ipswich, Suffolk on 12.6.1954.[12]

Notes – [1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [2] For details of 64^th Brigade’s deployments see War Diary [WO 95/1838/2].  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [3] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 29.12.1872, St George’s Church, Shimpling, Suffolk. The 1939 Register for Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk gives his birth date as 5.1.1872. [4] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Soldiers’ Documents and Pension Claims, First World War [WO 364], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [5] For details of 1^st Northamptonshire’s actions see War Diary [WO 95/1271/1].  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]; all records from his second enlistment are in the name of Roland Britton. [6] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 files [ref: 978670 and 564871]. [7] Date of birth from his Canadian attestation record. [8] Canadian attestation record is available online at Libraries and Archive of Canada [ref: RG150/64920]. [9] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record. [10] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [11] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363]. [12] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.