Selected Biographies

Chamberlin, George Oscar – Born: Wroxham, Norfolk on 19.2.1889.[1] Parent: John George Scarnett Chamberlin (Grocer and Postmaster) and Alice Sophia [née Royall]. Family Connections: Father to Ronald Ernest Chamberlin [b1920]. Home: The Street, Wroxham, Norfolk (1891, 1901), West Gate, Southery, Downham, Norfolk (1911), School House, The Green, Long Melford (1939), Hillside Nursing Home, Kings Hill, Great Cornard, Suffolk [1980].  Occupation: Assistant Master at Thetford Boys’ School [1907 to 1908], Hockham Mixed School [1908 to 1909], Southery Mixed School [1909 to 1912] and Hingham Boys’ School [1913 to 1914]. Headmaster at Hadleigh Voluntary Boys’ School [1922 to 1925] and Long Melford Voluntary Boys’ School [1925 to 1954].[2]  Married: Edna Lacon Gardner in 1918.[3]  Service Record: George enlisted in 1915 as Pte.65377 with the Royal Army Medical Corps, posted to Western Front as a stretcher-bearer, and by the time of his marriage in 1918 had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant.[4]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 27.1.1980.[5]

Chamberlin, Ronald Ernest – Born: Stow, Suffolk on 15.8.1920.[6] Parents: George Oscar Chamberlin (Headmaster of Long Melford Boys’ School) [see details above] and Edna Lacon [née Gardner]. Home: Cripple’s Lane, Beyton, Drinkstone, Suffolk (1921), School House, The Green, Long Melford (1939). Occupation: Railway Clerk (1939). Married: Edwina M. J. Harris in 1941. Service Record: Ronald enlisted as N^o.1388142 with the Royal Air Force.[7]  In the dying days of the Second World War Chamberlin was piloting a de Havilland Mosquito on a night mission off the North coast of Italy, when his plane was forced ditch into the Adriatic by enemy action.  The subsequent air-sea rescue was reported in the local press as follows: ‘The pilot managed to climb into his dinghy, but strong currents carried him into a minefield.  The following day a Walrus and a Warwick, with Spitfire cover, went to the rescue.  The Walrus circled, but the pilot found it impossible to land near the dinghy due to mines. Members of the crew volunteered to take a dinghy from the Walrus [a single-engine amphibious biplane] and try to reach the pilot. They paddled towards him, but the current was strong and they made little headway, so it was agreed that the pilot of the Warwick should drop an airborne lifeboat.  This was done successfully. The two men in the dinghy climbed into the lifeboat and slowly went in among the mines and rescued the Mosquito pilot’.[8]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register for Long Melford.  [2] Teachers’ Registration Council Registers 1914-1948].  [3] Marriage Register 26.8.1918, Christ Church, Turnham Green, Middlesex for note of his military rank.  [4] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [5] National Probate Calendar.  [6] 1939 Register for Long Melford.  [7] RAF Record [AIR 78/30/1].  [8] Suffolk & Essex Free Press 17.5.1945 and 7.6.1945.