Selected Biographies

Lawrence, Joseph – Born: Colchester, Essex on 9.1.1883.[1]  Parents: George Lawrence (Engine Fitter) and Elizabeth [née Joscelyne] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to William Cornelius Lawrence [b1878].  Home: 18 St Johns Green, Colchester, Essex (1891), 5 St Marys Road, Colchester (1901), 80 Raneleigh Road, Ipswich, Suffolk [1915].  Occupation: Engine Fitter (1901), Turner [1902 to 1915].  Married: Mary Maud Chambers in 1913.  Service Record: Joseph enlisted from 1902 to 1903 as Gnr.2721 with the Suffolk Royal Garrison Artillery [Militia].  In March 1903 he joined the Royal Navy as rating N^o. 346009, before being invalided out of the Service in 1905.  On 7.5.1915 he enlisted as Pte.08139 with the Army Ordnance Corps, receiving his discharge on 10.8.1915 as being ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’.[2]

Lawrence, Percy George – Born: Reading, Berkshire on 16.3.1895.[3] Parents: George Lawrence (Gardener) and Emma [[née Hamblin]. Home: Spring Grove, Mount Pleasant, Reading, Berkshire (1901 and 1911), George Lane, Long Melford [1915], 2 Hoylake Road, Acton, Middlesex (1939), 7 The Bye, Acton [1945].[4] Occupation: Labourer at the HBS [Huntley, Boorne and Stevens] Biscuit Tin Factory (1911), Lorry Driver (1939). Married: Alicia Irene Reade at Long Melford in 1919.[5] Service Record: Percy enlisted in 1913 as Pte.8777 with 2^nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and posted to France on 15.8.1914 as part of 14^th Brigade, 5^th Division.  His battalion reached the Belgian hill-top town of Mons on the eve of the British Army’s first battle of the War.  Pushed back by the full force of the German Army, the Suffolks took a prominent role in the rear-guard action at Le Cateau on 26.8.1914.  At the end of the day his unit had almost ceased to exist, losing over 700 men either killed, wounded, or captured, including Percy himself.[6]  He spent the rest of the war in captivity in Prisoner of War camps at Döberitz and Chemnitz in Germany.[7]  At least five other Melford men from 2^nd Suffolks were killed or captured that day: David Manning [b1885], Alfred Martin [b1890], Harry Pettitt [b1877], Walter Charles Wellum [b1886] and Stanley Arthur Wordley [b1894].  Their stories are to be found elsewhere in this Roll.  Percy was repatriated at the end of 1918.[8]  Died: Brent, Middlesex in 1975.

Lawrence, William Cornelius – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 22.12.1878.[9] Parents: George Lawrence (Engine Fitter) and Elizabeth [née Joscelyne] of Long Melford. Family Connections: Brother to Joseph Lawrence [b1883]. Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1881), 18 St Johns Green, Colchester, Essex (1891), 5 St Marys Road, Colchester (1901), 23 Chappel Street, Colchester [1914]. Occupation: Engine Fitter (1901), Fitter and Turner [1914]. Married: Emily Matilda Smith in 1901. Service Record: William enlisted on 24.8.1914 as Pte.472 with the Army Veterinary Corps and was discharged on 23.11.1914.  The reason for his early discharge is not given, however it may have been due to him having a wife and six children to support.[10]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from his Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/525] under the name Joseph Laurence. [2] See his Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1903, also his later Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363] which notes that Joseph was suffering from mania and was considered insane at his discharge. [3] Date of birth from his Prisoner of War Record, corroborated by the 1939 Register for Acton, Middlesex. [4] Address is taken from the Electoral Roll for Acton, Middlesex. [5] Marriage Register 18.6.1919, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [6] For details of 2^nd Suffolk’s movements up to the mauling at Le Cateau see War Diary [WO 95/1424/1] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.21-27 and 31-35. [7] For Percy’s POW record see International Committee of the Red Cross [file refs: PA75 and PA20303]. [8] Medal and Award Service Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [9] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 7.9.1879, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [10] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].