Selected Biographies

Martin, Alfred – Born: Ballingdon, Essex on 29.4.1890.[1]  Parents: Herbert Kirby Martin (Labourer in a Brickyard) and Maria [née Dare] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Percy Andrew Martin [b1882], Bertie Martin [b1885], Basil James Martin [b1892] and Ernest William Martin [b1895].  Home: 2 Harrows Yard, Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon, Essex (1891), 61 Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon [1919], 32 Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer [1906], Soldier [1906 to 1919], Maltster (1939).  Married: Annie Rose Beatrice Elmer in 1921.  Service Record: Alfred enlisted in September 1906 as Pte.7385 with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  He was serving in Egypt in 1912 when the Medical Board in Cairo recommended his discharge as being permanently unfit due to his myopia.  This condition notwithstanding, he was transferred to 2^nd Battalion, Suffolks and was placed on the Army Reserve in the following year.  Mobilizing the day after War was declared he was posted to France on 15.8.1914 as part of 14^th Brigade, 5^th Division, seeing action at the Battle of Mons on 23.8.1914 and at Le Cateau three days later.  This fiercely fought rear-guard action on 26.8.1914 saw the Suffolks in a leading role, resulting in the units near destruction, with only 111 men answering the roll call on the following morning.[2]  Along with hundreds of his comrades, Private Martin was taken prisoner, spending the rest of the war incarcerated in a Prisoner of War camp at Döberitz in Germany.  At least five other Melford men from 2^nd Suffolks were killed or captured that day: Percy George Lawrence [b1895], David Manning [b1885], Harry Pettitt [b1877], Walter Charles Wellum [b1886] and Stanley Arthur Wordley [b1894].  Their stories are to be found elsewhere in this Roll.  Alfred was eventually repatriated in December 1918, transferring to the Army Reserve in April 1919.[3]

Martin, Arthur George – Born: Poslingford, Suffolk in 1894.  Parents: George Martin (Shepherd on Farm) and Julia [née Honeyball].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Martin [b1897].  Home: The Street, Poslingford, Suffolk (1901 and 1911), Cranfield Cottage, 6 Windmill Hill, Long Melford [1918].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Arthur enlisted on 8.9.1914 as Pte.2368 with 2/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring on 9.2.1918 as Pte.S/42253 to 1^st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders and posted to France from 25.5.1918 as part of 76^th Brigade, 3^rd Division.  By the time Private Martin had joined his unit at Hinges, the front in that sector had descended into a period of relative calm after the maelstrom of March and April when the Germans had launched their Spring Offensive.  On 21.8.1918 this changed for the Gordons when they were tasked with retaking the railway embankment north of Achiet-le-Grand, which had been captured by the enemy five months earlier.  The fighting continued for three days.[4]  Died: Arthur was killed in action on 23.8.1918 near the village of Courcelles-le-Comte, close by the embankment.  He is buried in Warry Copse Cemetery [grave ref: A.36], Pas-de-Calais, France and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[5]

Martin, Basil James – Born: Ballingdon, Essex in 1892.  Parents: Herbert Kirby Martin (Labourer in Brickyard) and Maria [née Dare] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Percy Andrew Martin [b1882], Bertie Martin [b1885], Alfred Martin [b1890] and Ernest William Martin [b1895].  Home: Ellertons Yard, Ballingdon, Essex (1911), 61 Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon [1917].  Occupation: Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Basil was conscripted on 9.3.1916 as Pte.5885 with 4/8^th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex] Regiment, transferring as Pte.9068 to 1/7^th Battalion, Middlesex and posted to France from 12.7.1916 as part of 167^th Brigade, 56^th (1/1^st London) Division.  Private Martin was injured by poison gas on 21.8.1916, during the Battle of the Somme, and was returned to England to recover.  He was reposted to the Western Front from 26.12.1916, transferring on 3.4.1917 as Pte.203482 to ‘B’ Company, 4^th Battalion, Middlesex as part of 63^rd Brigade, 37^th Division in the Arras sector.[6]  Died: Basil died of wounds on 23.4.1917 most probably sustained during his unit’s attack on German lines, which had taken place earlier in the day.  He is buried in St Nicolas British Cemetery [grave ref: I.A.21], Arras, Pas-de-Calais, France and commemorated on the War Memorial at Sudbury in Suffolk.[7]

Martin, Bertie – Born: Ballingdon, Essex in 1885.  Parents: Herbert Kirby Martin (Labourer in Brickyard) and Maria [née Dare] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Percy Andrew Martin [b1882], Alfred Martin [b1890], Basil James Martin [b1892] and Ernest William Martin [b1895].  Home: 2 Harrows Yard, Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon, Essex (1891), 61 Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon [1915].  Occupation: Labourer [1914].  Service Record: Bertie enlisted in October 1914 as Pte.2502 with 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and was posted to Suvla Bay, Gallipoli from 10.8.1915 as part of 163^rd Brigade, 54^th [East Anglian] Division.  Within days of landing his unit made a successful attack against Turkish positions on Karakol Dagh.  At dawn two days later the Suffolks and the three other untested battalions of 163^rd Brigade were ordered to secure the heights to the east.  Advancing nearly a mile through a hail of Turkish artillery and machine gun fire, by the end of the day the enemy had been held at bay and a secure forward defence line established.  When Bertie and the other Melford men were finally relieved by fresh troops after three gruelling days, they were found in a sorry state, having baked under the searing heat they had run desperately short of drinking water and been plagued by swarms of flies attracted by the dead and dying around them.  When the Roll was called it was found the Suffolks alone had lost 186 men either dead or wounded with a further 150 laid low by dysentery.[8]    Died: Bertie was listed as missing presumed killed in action on 21.8.1915 and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial [panel 46 and 47], Gallipoli, Turkey, and the War Memorial at Sudbury in Suffolk.[9]

Martin, Ernest William – Born: Ballingdon, Essex on 26.10.1895.[10]  Parents: Herbert Kirby Martin (Labourer in Brickyard) and Maria [née Dare] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Percy Andrew Martin [b1882], Bertie Martin [b1885], Alfred Martin [b1890] and Basil James Martin [b1892].  Home: Ellertons Yard, Ballingdon, Essex (1911), 61 Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon [1919].  Occupation: Iron Founder (1911).  Service Record: Ernest is recorded as serving with 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment as part of 153^rd Brigade, 54^th (East Anglian) Division with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine in 1917.[11]

Martin, Frederick – Born: Poslingford, Suffolk in 1897.  Parents: George Martin (Shepherd on Farm) and Julia [née Honeyball].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur George Martin [b1894].  Home: The Street, Poslingford, Suffolk (1901 and 1911), Cranfield Cottages, 6 Windmill Hill, Long Melford [1918].  Service Record: Frederick enlisted as Pte.3091 with the Suffolk Regiment, transferring as Pte.290195 to 1^st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment and posted to France from 3.10.1917.  Within days of arriving, he was transferred as Pte.229485 to 23^rd [Service] Battalion, then to 1^st [City of London] Battalion, London Regiment [Royal Fusiliers], as part of 167^th Brigade, 56^th [1^st London] Division.  The Division fought throughout the War and during Martin’s time in France saw action at the Battle of Cambrai in late 1917, and at the First Battle of the Somme in March 1918.[12]  Died: Frederick died on 16.7.1918 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford on 19.7.1918 and is commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[13]

Martin, Henry James – Born: Strood, Kent in 1890. Parents: George John Martin (Foreman at Union Oil Mills) and Eliza [née Hulme]. Family Connections: Brother-in-law of John Howard Border [b1881], William Howard Border [b1888] and Alfred Howard Border [b1886] all from Long Melford. Home: Grove Road, Strood, Kent (1891 to 1901), 30, Thomas Street, Limehouse, Stepney, London (1911). Occupation: Seed Crusher at Union Oil Mills (1911). Married: Beatrice Howard Border of Long Melford in 1916. Service Record: Henry enlisted in 1909 as Dvr.187 with 1^st Essex Battery, 2^nd East Anglian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (Territorials).  It is not known if he saw service during the First World War as no definitive record can be found.[14]

Martin, Percy Andrew – Born: Ballingdon, Essex on 6.12.1882.[15]  Parents: Herbert Kirby Martin (Labourer in Brickyard) and Maria [née Dare] of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Brother to Bertie Martin [b1885], Alfred Martin [b1890], Basil James Martin [b1892] and Ernest William Martin [b1895]; also, brother-in-law of Henry Hines [b1874] and Frederick Hines of Long Melford [b1878].  Home: 2 Harrows Yard, Ballingdon Street, Ballingdon, Essex (1891), Royal Garrison Artillery Barracks in Sheerness, Kent (1901), Royal Artillery School of Gunnery in Shoeburyness, Essex (1911), Long Melford [1916 to 1918], Bridge Cottages, North Shoeburyness [1922], 36 Herbert Road, Shoeburyness (1939) to [1958].  Occupation: Labourer [1900], Soldier [1900 to 1922], Labourer at Shoeburyness Artillery Barracks and a Royal Artillery Pensioner (1939).  Married: Ellen Amelia Hines of Long Melford in 1916.[16]  Service Record: Percy enlisted in 1900 as Pte.5285 with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  He re-enlisted in 1901 as Gnr.6926 with the Royal Garrison Artillery, receiving his discharge in 1922.  It is not known if he served overseas.[17]  Died: Shoeburyness, Essex on 11.8.1958.[18]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 18.9.1890, All Saints Church, Sudbury in Suffolk. [2] For details of the action see 2^nd Suffolk’s War Diary [WO 95/1437/1] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.31-35. [3] 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]. [4] For details of the action see 1^st Gordon Highlander’s War Diary [WO 95/1435/3].  See also his 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] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 767099]. [6] For details of the action see 4^th Middlesex’s War Diary [WO 95/2528/2].  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] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 529706]. [8] For details of the battalion’s movements during Private Martin’s brief time in the Dardanelles see 1/5^th Suffolk’s War Diary [WO 95/4325] and Capt. A. Fair [mc] and Capt. E. D. Wolton [compiled by] “The Suffolk Regiment”: the history of the 1/5^th Battalion [London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1923] pp.13-21.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [9] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref:327103]. [10] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 3.12.1895, St Peters Church, Sudbury, Suffolk. [11] Ernest’s military information has been taken from the Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363] of his brother, Basil James Martin.  No extant First World War record has been found. [12] For details of 1^st London’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2949/1].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [13] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 734128]. [14] War Office: Soldiers’ Documents, First World War [WO 363]. [15] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 5.4.1885, All Saints Church, Sudbury, Suffolk. [16] Marriage Register 15.7.1916, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford [Bury Record Office ref: FL509/4/14]. [17] Baptism Register 8.10.1918, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford [BRO ref: FL664/4/1].  See also his Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1901 and RA Attestation Record [1400595]. [18] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.