Selected Biographies

Levitt, Arthur R. – Born: Foxearth, Essex on 26.8.1883.[1]  Parents: Robert Levitt (Agricultural Labourer) and Mary Ann [née Skelton].  Family Connections: Brother to Charles Bertie Levitt [b1899].  Home: Forest End, Foxearth, Essex (1891), Bridge Farm Cottages, Long Melford (1901 to 1911), 26 London Road, Brandon, Suffolk (1921), 17 Coronation Place, Brandon (1939).  Occupation: Coal Carter (1901), Agricultural Labourer (1911), Agricultural Labourer for Stafford Allen and Sons, Distillers of Herbal Oils [1916].  Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in May 1916 Stafford Allen and Sons, Arthur Levitt’s employer applied for his exemption.[2]  The Tribunal refused the application on the grounds that as a labourer on its herb farm, he was not in a certified occupation.  He should have been immediately conscripted, however the name of his unit is not known, as no definitive military record has been found.

Levitt, Charles Bertie – Born: Glemsford, Suffolk on 29.4.1899.[3]  Parents: Robert Levitt (Agricultural Labourer) and Mary Ann [née Skelton].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Levitt [b1884].  Home: Bridge Farm Cottages, Long Melford (1901 to 1911), Military Barracks, Winnock Road, Colchester, Essex (1921), 10 Kingston Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Soldier [1915] to (1921), Foreman Platelayer on a Narrow Gauge Railway (1939).  Married: Bessie Goodchild in 1920.  Service Record: Charles enlisted as Pte.9587 with 7^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  This battalion was posted to France in June 1915 as part of 35^th Brigade, 12^th [Eastern] Division and saw action at the following battles: Loos in 1915, Albert, Pozières and Le Transloy during the Somme Offensive of 1916, at Arras and Cambrai in 1917, and in 1918 during the German Spring Offensive.[4]  By May 1918 7^th Suffolks was being reduced to cadre strength with most of its men moving to other units.  It may have been at this time that Charles transferred to 2^nd Suffolks as he is recorded as serving with this in 1921.[5]  Died: Blyth, Suffolk in 1963.

Notes – [1] 1939 Register. [2] For the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 3.5.1916. [3] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 2.6.1899, St Marys Church, Glemsford, Suffolk.  The 1939 Register for Woodbridge in Suffolk records the date of birth as 29.4.1897. [4] For details of 7^th Suffolk’s movements on the Western Front see War Diary [WO 95/1852/1-4] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.88-91,129-33, 177-81, 232-38 and 272-77. [5] See also his Marriage Register 21.8.1920, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford and the UK Census of 1921.