Selected Biographies

Hills, Archibald – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 16.8.1892.[1] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day].  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Thomas Hills [b1883], Wilfred Hills [b1891] and Gerald Gordon Hills [b1899]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1901), Coronation Villa, Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911), Frost Barns, Maldon, Essex (1939). Occupation: Newsagent’s Errand Boy (1911), Builder’s Labourer (1939). Married: Daisy Constance Mutter in 1927.  Service Record: Archibald enlisted on 9.11.1914 as Dvr.1479 with 89^th East Anglian Divisional Train, Army Service Corps, being discharged on 30.7.1915 as being ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’ due to sickness.[2] Died: Cold Norton, Essex on 17.5.1968.[3]

Hills, Edward John – Born: Clare, Suffolk in 1897. Parents: Edward Percy Hills (Watch Repairer) and Harriett Theobald [née Shepherd] of Long Melford (Assistant School Mistress). Home: High Street, Kelvedon, Essex (1901), 74 Friars Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911). Occupation: Watchmaker’s Assistant. Service Record: Edward enlisted in late 1915 as Pte.5631 with the Suffolk Regiment, being posted to the Western Front in 1916 where he joined 1/4^th Battalion, Suffolks as part of 98^th Brigade, 33^rd Division. Hills was quickly promoted to Lance Sergeant and by 1917 had been given the new service number 202431.[4] Died: Edward was killed in action on 23.4.1917 during the attack on Guemappe, one of many fiercely fought actions during the Second Battle of the Scarpe.[5] He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial [bay 4], Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, Pas de Calais, France and the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[6]

Hills, Gerald Gordon – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 1.7.1899.[7] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day].  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Thomas Hills [b1883], Wilfred Hills [b1891] and Archibald Hills [b1892]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1901), Coronation Villa, Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911) to [1981]. Occupation: Pawnbroker’s Assistant [1917], Nursery Hand (1939).  Married: May Florence Gowen in 1922. Service Record: Gerald enlisted on 31.7.1917 as Officer’s Steward F65705 with the Royal Navy.  On 1.4.1918 he was transferred as No.235705 to Royal Air Force.[8] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 6.8.1981.[9]

Hills, Harry Thomas – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 27.8.1883.[10] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day].  Family Connections: Brother to Wilfred Hills [b1891], Archibald Hills [b1892] and Gerald Gordon Hills [b1899]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1891 and 1901), The Green, Long Melford (1911), 61 Friars Street, Sudbury, Suffolk [1916], East Street, Sudbury [1919] to (1939).  Occupation: Gardener (1901 and 1911), Chimney Sweep [1916] to (1939).  Married: Florence Amelia Hayward in 1909.  Service Record: Harry was conscripted on 23.10.1916 as Pte.6133 with 4^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, re-numbered as Pte.202818 in early 1917.  He was transferred on 12.6.1917 to the Labour Corps, serving as Pte.162074 with 390^th [Home Service] Company, Labour Corps at his discharge in September 1919.[11] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1965.

Hills, Philip Vincent – Born: Boxford, Suffolk on 26.12.1878.[12] Parents: Philip Baker Hills (Farmer) and Emma [née Tiffen].  Home: Payton Hall, Boxford, Suffolk (1881 to 1901), Wood Hall, Acton Road, Sudbury, Suffolk, and Hill Farm, Polstead, Suffolk [1916 to 1925], Wrongs Farm, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Farmer.  Married: Dorothy Maud Drake in 1934.  Service Record: Philip sat on the Board of Guardians for the Sudbury Union Workhouse from 1913, and the Melford Rural District Council and Melford War Agricultural Sub-Committee during the Great War.  Died: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 10.2.1972.[13]

Hills, Wilfred – Born: Great Cornard, Suffolk on 11.9.1891.[14] Parents: Abel Frederick Hills (Gardener) and Elizabeth Sophie [née Day].  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Thomas Hills [b1883], Archibald Hills [b1892] and Gerald Gordon Hills [b1899]. Home: Sudbury Road, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1891, 1901), Coronation Villa, Queens Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911) to [1914]. Occupation: Butcher’s Shop Assistant (1911). Married: Hilda Mary Pleasants in 1922. Service Record: Wilfred enlisted on 9.11.1914 as Dvr.1478 with No.4 (Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade Company, East Anglian Divisional Train, Army Service Corps, being posted to Salonika from 19.8.1916 to 29.11.1918 as Dvr.T4/0211886. On his return to England, he joined 668 [Horse Transport] Depot Company, ASC stationed at Blackheath in Kent.  Hills was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in February 1919.[15] Died: Maldon, Essex in 1969.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the 1939 Register.  [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Silver War Badge [WO 329] [No.79693] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [3] National Probate Calendar.  [4] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [5] For details of the battalion’s movements at Arras see Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. Murphy, The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928] pp.225-27 and War Diary [WO 95/2427/2].  [6] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 and Commonwealth War Grave Commission.  [7] Date of birth from the 1939 Register.  [8] RN Record [ADM 188].  [9] National Probate Calendar.  [10] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Sudbury, Suffolk.  [11] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [12] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Melford Rural District.  [13] National Probate Calendar.  [14] Date of birth from the Admissions Register 23.9.1895 for Great Cornard Board School.  [15] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Silver War Badge [WO 329] [No.521626] and Medal Roll [WO 329].