Selected Biography

Lingwood, Leonard Thomas – Born: Ipswich, Suffolk on 15.5.1894.[1]  Parents: Leonard Lingwood (Railway Foreman Porter) and Lavinia Eliza [née Capon].  Home: 60 New Cardinal Place, Ipswich (1901) Station Road, Long Melford (1911), 22 Hasker Street, Chelsea, London [1918 and 1919], 56 Rawlings Street, Chelsea [1920], 181 Replingham Road, Wandsworth, London [1933 to 1962].[2]  Occupation: Baker’s Assistant (1911), Footman [1914], Boot Repairer (1939).  Married: Louise Gertrude Burrage in 1917.  Service Record: Leonard enlisted on 23.11.1914 as Gnr.52015 with the Royal Garrison Artillery, transferring on 31.7.1915 to ‘N’ Battery, 22^nd [Heavy] Brigade, RGA, posted to France as part of Third Army from 21.8.1915 and attached to Headquarters’ Staff.[3]  This unit was deployed on the Somme in 1916 and during the Third Battles Ypres in 1917.  He received his discharge in February 1919.[4]  Died: Merton, Surrey in 1976.

Related Biographies

Branwhite, Frederick Horace – Born: Kensington, London on 4.9.1890.  Parents: Frederick Wesney Stapleton Branwhite of Long Melford (Corn Merchant) [see details below] and Minnie [née Read].  Family Connections: Brother to Fred Branwhite [b1897] and brother-in-law of Edward Ernest Worrall [b1885]; also, uncle of John Edward Wesney Worrell [b1919], nephew of John Cross Branwhite [b1860], Frederick William Branwhite [b1863] and Vernon Harry Branwhite [b1865], and cousin of Frederick Claude Branwhite [b1894], Eric Reginald Branwhite [b1895] and Victor Cross Branwhite [b1901].  Home: 144 Kennington Park Road, Newington, London (1891), 110 Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds (1901), recorded as Horace Branwhite at The Holgate, Little St Marys, Long Melford (1911) to [1915], Bridge House, Long Melford [1925], Melford Road, Rodbridge, Long Melford (1939) to [1972].  Occupation: Clerk (1911), Soldier and Maltster [1916], Corn Merchant and Pig and Poultry Farmer (1939).  Married: Ellen Maud Lingwood in 1916.  Service Record: Frederick was conscripted on 13.9.1916 as Pte.DM2/221150 with the Army Service Corps, issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged due to sickness on 11.3.1918.  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 14.12.1972.[5]

Irons, William Charles – Born: Chiswick, Middlesex on 25.8.1893.[6] Parents: William Henry Irons (Labourer) and Alice Maud [née Blackhall].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Leonard Thomas Lingwood of Long Melford [b1894].  Home: 29 Swanscombe Road, Chiswick, Middlesex (1901), 31 Reckitt Road, Chiswick (1911).  Occupation: Porter in a China Stores (1911).  Married: Bertha Agnes Lingwood of Long Melford in 1914.  Service Record: William enlisted in 1915 as Pte.15525 with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, posted to the Western Front on 19.7.1915 and transferred as Pte.17753 to 6^th [Service] Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh’s [Wiltshire] Regiment as part of 58^th Brigade, 19^th [Western] Division. His unit saw action at the Battle of Loos in 1915 and numerous times during the Somme Offensive of 1916; at the Battles of Albert, High Wood, Pozieres Ridge, the Ancre Heights and the Ancre.[7]  Died: Private Irons was listed as missing presumed killed in action on 20.11.1916 and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial [pier and face 13A], Somme, France and the Chiswick Memorial, Turnham Green, Middlesex.[8]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Wandsworth, London, and Death Index. [2] For addresses see Electoral Rolls for Chelsea and Wandsworth. [3] For details of 22^nd [Heavy] Battery’s deployment, see War Diary [WO 95/387/5]. [4] 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]. [5] Date of birth from Baptism Register 4.11.1891, St Marys Church, Newington, London.  For address see Kelly’s Directory for Suffolk 1925.  Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: 519333] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372] in the name of Frederick Horace Bramwhite [sic].  Date of death from the National Probate Calendar. [6] Baptism Register on 8.10.1883 for St Nicholas Church, Chiswick. [7] For background into William Irons battalion and the military campaigns see Chris M^cCarthy, The Somme: The Day-to-Day Account [London: Brockhampton Press, 1998] and https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/. Also see his Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372]. [8] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 [ref:395296] and Commonwealth War Grave Commission.