Selected Biography

Cox, Arthur ‘Bully’ – Born: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 2.2.1924.[1]  Parents: Willie Cox (Cemetery Labourer) [see below for his military career] and Agnes Alice [née Bull].  Family Connections: Brother to George Martin Cox [b1913] and Frederick William Cox [b1921]; also, nephew of Martin Cox [b1882] and brother-in-law of William Edward ‘Joe’ Underwood [b1915].  Home: 15 Alexandria Cottage, Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1921), Cock and Bell Lane, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Vera L. Buxton in 1949.  Service Record: Due to his being employed in agricultural work, a reserved occupation, Arthur was made a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford during the Second World War, serving with ‘G’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard.  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1986.

Cox, Frederick William Isaac – Born: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 13.5.1921.[2]  Parents: Willie Cox (Cemetery Labourer) [see below for his military career] and Agnes Alice [née Bull].  Family Connections: Brother to George Martin Cox [b1913] and Arthur Cox [b1924]; also, nephew of Martin Cox [b1882] and brother-in-law of William Edward ‘Joe’ Underwood [b1915].  Home: Cock and Bell Lane, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Service Record: Frederick enlisted as Pte.5833741 with 5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and on 29.10.1941 sailed from Liverpool to Singapore landing on 29.1.1942.  The battalion were defending positions on the Adam-Farrer Roads when they were attacked by overwhelming Japanese forces, causing the defenders to make a fighting withdrawal lasting several days.[3]  Died: It was probably during this desperate period that Private Cox was presumed killed on 15.2.1942, the day the island garrison surrendered,  and is commemorated in Kranji War Cemetery [grave ref: 11.B.14], Singapore and on the Long Melford War Memorial.[4]

Cox, George Martin – Born: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 17.8.1913.[5]  Parents: Willie Cox (Cemetery Labourer) [see below for his military career] and Agnes Alice [née Bull].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick William Isaac Cox [b1921] and Arthur Cox [b1924]; also, nephew of Martin Cox [b1882] and brother-in-law of William Edward ‘Joe’ Underwood [b1915]. Home: 15 Alexandria Cottage, Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1921), Cock and Bell Lane, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1939).   Service Record: Due to his being employed in agricultural work, a reserved occupation, George was made a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford during the Second World War, serving with ‘G’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1958.

Cox, Martin – Born: Beck Row, Mildenhall, Suffolk on 30.7.1882.[6]  Parents: Isaac Cox (Horsekeeper) and Sarah [née Dennis].  Family Connections: Brother to Willie Cox [b1879]; also, uncle of George Martin Cox [b1913], Frederick William Isaac Cox [b1921] and Arthur Cox [b1924].  Home: 3 Reeds Buildings, Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1891), St Peter Port, Guernsey (1901), Military Barracks, Stanhope Lines, Aldershot, Hampshire (1911), Military Barracks, Curragh Camp, Ireland (1921). Occupation: Wood Turner.  Married: Frances Annie Davies in 1920.  Service Record: Martin enlisted with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment before 1901.  Although no definitive First World War military record has been found, Martin probably served as Pte.6134, later promoted to Sergeant, with 2^nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  If this assumption is correct then he would have been posted to France on 15.8.1914 as part of 14^th Brigade, 5^th Division and seen action at the Battles of Mons and Le Cateau in the opening days of the war.[7]  He continued his service after the war and in 1921 is stationed in Ireland.  Died: Wolverhampton, Staffordshire in 1924.[8]

Cox, Willie – Born: Beck Row, Mildenhall, Suffolk on 19.5.1879.[9]  Parents: Isaac Cox (Horsekeeper) and Sarah [née Dennis].  Family Connections: Father to George Martin Cox [b1913], Frederick William Isaac Cox [b1921] and Arthur Cox [b1924]; also, brother of Martin Cox [b1882] and father-in-law of William Edward Underwood [b1915].  Home: 63 Aspall Lane, Holywell Row, Mildenhall, Suffolk (1881), 3 Reeds Buildings, Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1891), 69 Cannon Street, Bury St Edmunds (1911), 15 Alexandria Cottage, Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1921), Cock and Bell Lane, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Cemetery Labourer (1911 to 1921), Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Agnes Alice Bull in 1908.  Service Record: Willie enlisted in 1900 as Pte.5564 with the Norfolk Regiment, having previously served with their 4^th Battalion.  Posted to India with 1^st Battalion in 1901 being stationed at Dum Dum and Darjeeling in Bengal until 1904 when he was shipped to South Africa, transferring to 2^nd Battalion in November 1906, before returning to England in 1908 and placed on the Army Reserve.  At the outbreak of war in August 1914 Willie answered Kitchener’s call and volunteered for further duty, being posted to France on 15.9.1914 and joining 1^st Norfolks, then under the command of 5^th Division’s 15^th Brigade seeing immediate action at the Battle of the Aisne, and in October at the Battle of La Bassée.  The following April his unit took part in the Capture of Hill 60 near Ypres and between July and September 1916 at the Battles of Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette and Morval during the Somme Offensive.  Returning briefly to England in October, Private Cox was re-posted to the Western Front at the end of January 1917, joining 8^th (Service) Battalion as part of 53^rd Brigade, 18^th (Eastern) Division, his unit fighting engagements at Arras from January to May and at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.  The new year saw 8^th Norfolks disbanded, and Cox being transferred with many of his comrades to the Regiment’s 9^th (Service) Battalion on 6.2.1918.  As part of 71^st Brigade, 6^th Division his new unit was stationed on the Somme front, when on 21.3.1918 the Germans launched their Spring Offensive causing scores of casualties to Willie’s unit during the Battle of St Quentin.  The Battalion was relocated to the Ypres Salient seeing further action at the Battles of Bailleul and Kemmel between 13 and 19 April.  On 23.4.1918 Willie Cox received gunshot wounds to his right arm and left thigh resulting in months of treatment back in England before his discharge in December 1918 as ‘being no longer physically fit for War Service’.[10]  He gave over 18 years of service to his country and may never have fully recovered from the effect of his injuries, recording himself as a disabled soldier on the official UK Census in 1921.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1956.

Related Biography

Underwood, William Edward ‘Joe’ – Born: Lavenham, Suffolk on 9.1.1915.  Parents: Charles John Underwood (Horseman on Farm) and Kate Elizabeth [née Howe].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of George Martin Cox [b1913], Frederick William Isaac Cox [b1921] and Arthur Cox [b1924].  Home: High Street, Acton, Suffolk (1921).  Married: Melinda May G. Cox in 1940.  Service Record: Due to his being employed in a reserved occupation, Joe was not eligible for regular military service, he did however become a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford during the Second World War.  He rose to the rank of lance-corporal in ‘G’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard and is featured in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[11]  Died: Sudbury in 1980.

Notes – [1] Date of birth taken from his Death Record.  [2] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [3] Guthrie Muir The Suffolk Regiment [Leo Cooper: London, 1969] pp.112-113.  [4] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.  [5] 1939 Register.  [6] Baptism Record of 5.4.1882, St Marys Church, Mildenhall, Suffolk.  [7] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [8] Pension Cards and Ledgers [ref:6/MC/8646].  [9] 1939 Register.  [10] For details of 9^th Norfolk’s movements see their War Diary [WO 97/1623].  For his military career see Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Medal Roll [WO 329], and Medal Index Card [WO 372/5/64454].  [11] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.