A village with a big story
Selected Biographies
Golding, Alfred Ernest – Born: Ballingdon, Essex on 28.5.1886.[1] Parents: Alfred Golding (Ostler) and Susannah [née Gardiner]. Family Connections: Father to Charles Alfred Golding [b1909], Horace William Golding [b1912], Reginald Leonard Golding [b1914] and Cyril Albert Golding [b1920]; also, nephew of Alfred Gardiner [b1882] and Ernest Athelstan Gardiner [b1878], and son-in-law of Charles William Cranfield [b1865]. Home: Middleton Road, Ballingdon, Essex (1891 to 1911), St Catherines Road, Long Melford [1915] to (1939). Occupation: Brewer’s Drayman (1911), Drug Grinder for Stafford Allen and Sons, Distillers of Herbal Oils (1939). Married: Amelia Cranfield in 1908. Service Record: Alfred was conscripted on 20.11.1915 as Dvr.T/2796 with the Army Service Corps, transferring as Dvr.T4/160550 to 485th [Horse Transport] Company, ASC and posted on 2.2.1916 to Salonika as part of 27th Divisional Train. Only days after landing he contracted nephritis and was invalided home. In December 1916 he was transferred to 518th [Horse Transport] Company, ASC and reposted to Salonika, serving with 60th Divisional Train until his transfer to Egypt in July 1917. Following six months of training he was transferred on 31.1.1918 as Pte.50782 to 1/5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment stationed in Palestine, seeing action at Tell ‘Asur in March. He fell ill again in September, not considered fit enough to re-join his unit until late December, returning shortly after to England before being placed on the Army Reserve in March 1919.[2] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1976.
[1] Date of birth from the Baptism Record 14.7.1889, All Saints Church, Sudbury Suffolk. The Death Index records an alternative date of birth as 25.5.1886. [2] For details of 1/5th Suffolk’s part in the Palestine Campaign see War Diary [WO 95/4658] and Service Medal and Award Rolls, Capt. A. Fair [MC] and Capt. E. D. Wolton [compiled by] “The Suffolk Regiment”: the history of the 1/5th Battalion [London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1923] pp.53-107. 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].
Golding, Charles Albert – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1909. Parents: Alfred Ernest Golding (Brewer’s Drayman) [see above for details] and Amelia [née Cranfield]. Family Connections: Brother to Horace William Golding [b1912], Reginald Leonard Golding [b1914] and Cyril Albert Golding [b1920]. Home: 12 Middleton Road, Ballingdon, Essex (1911), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1921), Plough Lane, Sudbury, Suffolk [1936]. Married: Joyce Muriel Farrance in 1936. Service Record: Charles enlisted with the Royal Air Force in the 1930s and was posted to India. At the start of hostilities, he was sent to France as Cpl.509633 with No.73 Squadron, Royal Air Force, as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force, equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighters. Died: During the squadron’s withdrawal from France many of its ground crew, including Charles, were being evacuated to England aboard RMS Lancastria when it was sunk by enemy the Luftwaffe off the coast of St Nazaire on 17.6.1940. Corporal Golding’s body was never recovered. He is commemorated on Runnymede Memorial [panel 6], Surrey, and on the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[1] It is thought that more than 4,000 personnel died that day, the greatest single loss of life in British maritime history.[2]
[1] Commonwealth War Grave Commission record, photo courtesy of www.sudburysuffolk.co.uk. [2] RMS Lancastria – Wikipedia
Golding, Cyril Albert – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 7.5.1920.[1] Parents: Alfred Ernest Golding (Brewer’s Drayman) [see above for details] and Amelia [née Cranfield]. Family Connections: Brother to Charles Alfred Golding [b1909], Horace William Golding [b1912] and Reginald Leonard Golding [b1914]. Home: St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1921 to 1939), 69 Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk [2003 to 2010].[2] Occupation: Lorry Driver for a Corn and Seed Merchant (1939). Married: Phyllis Minnie Crack in 1940. Service Record: Cyril enlisted at the RAF Training Station at Cardington, Bedfordshire in 1940 as No.964218 as a Class F Reservist with the Royal Air Force.[3] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 15.3.2012.
[1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [2] Address from the Electoral Roll. [3] RAF Record [AIR 78/62/2].
Golding, Horace William – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 18.7.1912.[1] Parents: Alfred Ernest Golding (Brewer’s Drayman) [see above for details] and Amelia [née Cranfield]. Family Connections: Brother to Charles Alfred Golding [b1909], Reginald Leonard Golding [b1914] and Cyril Albert Golding [b1920]. Home: St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1921 to 1939). Occupation: Brewer’s Labourer (1939). Married: Florence L. Sargent in 1934 (Corset Overlocker). Service Record: Horace enlisted at the RAF Training Station at Cardington, Bedfordshire in April 1940 as No.1162685 with the Royal Air Force.[2] Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 2002.
[1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [2] RAF Record [AIR 78/62/2].
Golding, Reginald Leonard – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 16.12.1914.[1] Parents: Alfred Ernest Golding (Brewer’s Drayman) [see above for details] and Amelia [née Cranfield]. Family Connections: Brother to Charles Alfred Golding [b1909], Horace William Golding [b1912] and Cyril Albert Golding [b1920]. Home: 12 Middleton Road, Ballingdon, Essex [1914], St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1921) to [1938], 8 Station Road, Long Melford (1939). Occupation: Galenical Maker at the Stafford Allen Works (1939). Married: Alice Madeline Farrance in 1938. Service Record: Reginald enlisted at the RAF Training Station at Cardington, Bedfordshire in 1940 as No.961024 as a Class F Reservist with the Royal Air Force.[2] Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 2003.
[1] Date of birth taken from the 1939 Register. [2] RAF Record [AIR 78/62/2].
Genealogical Table
