Selected Biographies

Devine, Clifford Allan – Born: Debenham, Suffolk on 18.3.1893.  Parents: Theophilus Devine (Congregational Minister) and Emma Jane [née Walker].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick James Devine [b1890].  Home: Independent Chapel, Hall Street, Long Melford (1901), ‘Melford’ 11 Crabbe Street, Ipswich, Suffolk [1912 to 1915], 18 Newhaven Avenue, Sunderland, County Durham (1939) to [1941].  Occupation: Ship’s Master in Merchant Navy [1915] to (1939).  Married: Agnes Gertrude Holmes in 1917.  Service Record: Clifford was a member of the Royal Naval Reserve, Acting Lieutenant on HMS Wildfire in 1915, Lieutenant on HMS Manxman [an Isle of Man Steam Packet, which had been converted to an aircraft carrier] in 1917.  Died: Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire on 15.11.1948.[1]

Devine, Frederick James – Born: Debenham, Suffolk on 17.9.1890.  Parents: Theophilus Devine (Congregational Minister) and Emma Jane [née Walker].  Family Connections: Brother to Clifford Allen Devine [b1893].  Home: Congregational Chapel and House, The Street, Debenham, Suffolk (1891), Independent Chapel and Home, Long Melford (1901), ‘Melford’ 11 Crabbe Street, Ipswich, Suffolk (1911), 23 Finsby Road, Stamford Hill, Middlesex [1927], 38 Methley Drive, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire (1939), 89 Pitts Lane, Earley, Reading, Berkshire [1973].  Occupation: Warehouseman (1911), Civil Servant [1927] and (1939).  Married: Florence Winifred Copp in 1927.  Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, Frederick may have attested as Rfn.327 with 1/5^th [City of London] Battalion, London Regiment [London Rifle Brigade].  If this assumption is correct then he was posted to France from 18.8.1915 as part of 8^th Brigade, 3^rd Division.  On 2.4.1916 he transferred in the field to 169^th Trench Mortar Battery, part of 169^th [3^rd London] Brigade, 56^th [1^st London] Division, seeing action during the Somme Offensive of 1916, the Battles of Arras, Langemarck and Cambrai in 1917, and the Battles of the Hindenburg Line in 1918.  While serving on the Western Front he was promoted and re-numbered as Acting L/Cpl.300345, returning to England on 21.3.1918.  Died: Reading, Berkshire on 13.4.1973.[2]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Sunderland, County Durham.  See also his Board of Trade Certificate 1.10.1915, also the Navy Lists for 1916, 1917 and 1919.  Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [2] Date of birth from the Death Index.  Address and occupation taken from Marriage Register 11.6.1927, Christchurch, Turnham Green, Middlesex.  Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.