Grimes, Archibald Edward – Born: Hadleigh, Suffolk in 1893.  Parents: Frederick Grimes (Waiter) and Lizzie Mary [née Lilley], residents of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Mark Grimes [b1889] who served in the same battalion and was posted to France on the same day.  Home: The Green, Long Melford (1901), 33 Hertford Street, Mayfair, London (1911).  Occupation: Footman (1911).  Service Record: Attested as Pte.E/1165 with ‘D’ Company, 17^th [Service] Battalion [Empire], Royal Fusiliers [City of London] Regiment, Archibald was posted to France from 17.11.1915 as part of 5^th Brigade, 2^nd Division.[1] Died: Private Grimes was recorded as missing, presumed killed in action during a pre-dawn raid on German lines on 8.7.1916 at Carency, a village which lies between Arras and Lens.  Of the seventy men involved in the enterprise Grimes was one of seven other ranks who failed to return.  A letter from his company commander, Captain Donald Farquharson reached his father shortly after the raid, which was published in the parish magazine: ‘You have no doubt already heard that your son, Pte. A. E. Grimes, has been missing since 1am on 8^th inst.  I have been hoping to get some definite news but regret to say that none has come in.  It is quite possible that your son is now a prisoner, but it is also possible that he was shot while attempting to get back to our lines from the German trench into which he had penetrated, and in either case I wish to express my deep sympathy with you in your loss.  Should any further news transpire, I will advise you immediately, but fear it will be months before we get definite news.  Your son most gallantly volunteered for the special duty on which he was engaged when he became a casualty, and I feel it is only fair to you to know that his brother also volunteered for the same duty but was not taken because brothers were not allowed to both go.  Your son is greatly missed by the officers and men of my company, and our great hope is that in course of time we may hear that he is a prisoner and not dead.  With deepest sympathy….’[2] This was one of the many nameless actions during the Somme Offensive of 1916.  Archibald is commemorated on the Arras Memorial [bay 3], Faubourg d’Amiens British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France, and the Long Melford War Memorial.[3]

Grimes, Frederick Mark – Born: Hadleigh, Suffolk on 18.4.1889.[4] Parents: Frederick Grimes (Waiter) and Lizzie Mary [née Lilley], residents of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Archibald Edward Grimes [b1893] who served in the same battalion and was posted to France on the same day.  Home: High Street, Hadleigh, Suffolk (1891), The Green, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), 15 Middleton Road, Battersea, London [1918], Tregoney, 6 Second Avenue, Trimley St Mary, Ipswich, Suffolk (1939) to [1965].  Occupation: Footman (1911), Electrician (1939).  Married: Mary Annie Gowman in 1918.[5]  Service Record: Frederick attested as Pte.E/849, later Sergeant N^o. GS/48541 with 17^th [Service] Battalion [Empire], Royal Fusiliers [City of London] Regiment, posted to France from 17.11.1915 to 10.4.1919.  From December 1915 to February 1918 this battalion formed part of the 2^nd Division’s 5^th Brigade seeing action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and the First and Second Battles of the Scarpe in 1917. From February 1918 the Battalion moved to 6th Brigade within the same Division seeing action at the First and Second Battles of the Somme and the Battles of the Hindenburg Line.[6]  Died: Ipswich, Suffolk on 21.12.1964.[7]

Notes – [1] For details of 17^th Royal Fusiliers movements see War Diary [WO 95/1350/2].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [2] Long Melford Parish Magazine (August 1916).  [3] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 434950].  [4] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Deben Rural District, Suffolk.  [5] Frederick Grimes is recorded as a Sergeant in 17^th [Service] Battalion, Royal Fusiliers at his marriage in 1918, see Marriage Register 14.3.1918, St Marks Church, Battersea, London.  [6] For details of these actions see 17^th Royal Fusiliers War Diary [WO 95/1350/2].  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] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.