Selected Biographies

Byham, Frederick Charles – Born: Acton, Suffolk on 7.11.1897.[1]  Parents: William Byham of Acton, Suffolk (Agricultural Labourer) and Sarah Ann [née Stammers].  Family Connections: Brother to Willie Arthur Byham [b1895]; also, brother-in-law of William George Bird [b1895] and Harry Bird [b1897].  Home: The Green, Acton, Suffolk (1901 to 1911), 3 High Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911 to 1939).  Married: Zilpah Bird in 1926.  Service Record: Frederick enlisted as Pte.14302 with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to France on 31.8.1915 as part of 71^st Brigade, seeing action on 27 September at the Battle of Loos.  The battalion went on to see further action at the Battles of Flers-Courcelette, Morval and Transloy during the Somme Offensive of 1916, and at Cambrai the following year.  Byham was later renumbered as Pte.70158.[2]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1968.

Byham, Harry C. – Born: Haverhill, Suffolk on 12.9.1886.[3]  Parents: Henry Byham of Long Melford (Coconut Mat Weaver) and Maria [née Armstrong].  Family Connections: Brother to Herbert Robert Byham of Long Melford [b1876].  Home: High Street, Haverhill, Suffolk (1891), 22 Broad Street, Haverhill (1901 to 1911), Killingworth, Grange Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight, Hampshire (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Shop Assistant (1911), Grocer’s assistant for the Cowes Cooperative Society (1921).  Married: Emily Rebecca Conway in 1913.  Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, Harry may have attested on 23.11.1915 as Rfn.373970 with 1/8^th [City of London] Battalion [Post Office Rifles], London Regiment.  If this assumption is correct then he was posted to France as part of 174^th Brigade, 58^th [2/1^st London] Division, and would probably have seen action during the Third Battles of Ypres.  He was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged on 13.9.1918 due to wounds.[4]  Died: Isle of Wight, Hampshire in 1946.

Byham, Herbert Robert – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 14.12.1875.[5]  Parents: Henry Byham (Coconut Mat Weaver) and Maria [née Armstrong].  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Byham [b1887].  Home: Westgate Street, Long Melford (1881), High Street, Haverhill, Suffolk (1891), lodging with Henry Pettifer at 22Felix Road, Ealing, Middlesex (1901), 9 Berrymead Gardens, Acton, Middlesex (1911), 3 Eastbury Grove, Chiswick, Middlesex (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Office Boy in a Horsehair Factory (1891), Tailor (1901 to 1939).  Married: Alice Georgina Beatrice Bond in 1901.  Service Record: Herbert enlisted in 1911 as Private later L/Cpl.1112 with 5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment [Territorial].  He was conscripted on 27.8.1916 as L/Cpl.40395 of N^o. 8 Section, ‘C’ Company, 8^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks and posted to France as part of 53^rd Brigade, 18^th [Eastern] Division.  The Battalion took a leading role in the attacks on Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt on 26.9.1916 suffering many casualties, one of the many actions during the Somme Offensive.  He was later transferred to 7^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks, then to 1^st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment.[6]  Died: Ealing, Middlesex in 1959.

Byham, William ‘Willie’ Arthur – Born: Acton, Suffolk on 24.4.1895.[7]  Parents: William Byham of Acton, Suffolk (Agricultural Labourer) and Sarah Ann [née Stammers].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Charles Byham [b1897].  Home: The Green, Acton, Suffolk (1901 to 1911), 3 High Street, Long Melford (1939), 5 Kento Street, St Giles, London (1921), 5 Kirkeby Buildings, Farringdon, London (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), Warehouseman [1914], Warehouse Porter (1921), Departmental Porter (1939).  Married: Annie Maud Beatrice Bonham in 1919.  Service Record: Willie enlisted on 12.8.1914 as Pte. A6o6 with ‘B’ Company, 7^th [Service] Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.  He was posted with his unit to France on 18.5.1915 as part of 41^st Brigade, 14^th (Light) Division, seeing action during the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and the Third Battles of Ypres a year later.  For his bravery at Ypres, he was awarded the Military Medal.  By early 1918 he had risen to the rank of sergeant when his battalion moved back to the Somme battle front.  On 21.3.1918 the Germans launched their Spring Offensive attacking in overwhelming force on the Corps position near St Quentin, Sergeant Byham receiving a shrapnel wound to his left shoulder and a bullet to his right thigh.  He captured and incarcerated at Damstadt from July 1918, then to Prisoner-of-War Camps in Poland, initially at Czersk then from October 1918 at Schneidemühl, being eventually repatriated in December.  On his return to England, he was assessed and considered unfit for further duty, issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in February 1919.[8]  Died: Hampstead, London in 1958. 

Notes – [1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register for Long Melford. [2] For details of his battalion’s exploits on the Western Front see Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928] pp.120-126, 194-199 and 243-249. Also, see his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] 1939 Register.  [4] For details of Post Office Rifles’ movements see War Diary [WO 95/3006/1-3].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B3725] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [5] Date of birth from Baptism Register 2.7.1876, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [6] Suffolk Regiment Old Comrades Association Subscriptions Register [Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Record Office ref: GB554/K3/1].  For details of the action see Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.168-70 and 8^th Suffolks War Diary [WO 95/2039/1].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [7] 1939 Register.  [8] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 [ref:11/M/115214], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372], [WO 329 – Silver War Badge ref: B168950].  See also the International Committee of the Red Cross.  Archive for his Prisoner-of-War records [ref: PA40059 & PA28186].