Selected Biographies

Middleditch, Arthur – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 30.6.1871.[1]  Parents: James Middleditch (Ostler) and Susannah [née Maxim].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1871), Inmate of the New Orphan House, Ashley Down, Bristol, Somerset (1881), Inmate of the Halstead Union Workhouse, North Street, Halstead, Essex (1891), lodging with David Wells at 4 Tayfen Terrace, Tayfen Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1901) Inmate of the Sudbury Union Workhouse, Walnut Tree Lane, Sudbury, Suffolk (1911), 15 Avery Row, Brook Street, Mayfair, London [1915], 2 Ditchingham Place, Lodden Road, Ditchingham, Norfolk (1939).  Occupation: Tailor (1891), School Porter (1901), Tailor (1911), Retired Tailor (1939).  Service Record: From 1886 to 1891 Arthur was a volunteer with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  In 1891 he enlisted as Gnr.85164 with the Royal Garrison Artillery and was posted to Gibraltar and India, receiving his discharge in 1903.  The following year he re-joined the Suffolk Militia as Pte.6229, until his discharge in 1908.  Following the declaration of War, Arthur enlisted on 25.11.1914 as Spr.57292 of 88^th Field Company, Royal Engineers, which by the New Year had come under the command of 13^th (Western) Division.  He was posted to Egypt in January 1915, then to Gallipoli until December, moving in 1916 to Mesopotamia and remaining there until the Armistice in 1918.  Middleditch was returned to England and received his discharge in February 1919.[2]

Middleditch, Frederick Charles – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 7.1.1891.[3]  Parents: Arthur Middleditch (Carpenter) and Harriett [née Piper].  Family Connections: Brother to Percy Cecil Middleditch [b1895] and brother-in-law of Harry William Gridley [b1893].  Home: Rotten Row, Long Melford (1891), Little St Marys, Long Melford (1901), Hall Street, Long Melford (1911).  Occupation: Wheelwright’s Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Frederick enlisted in 1915 as Pte.3718 with 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, later attached as Pte.241209 to 486^th [2/1^st East Anglian] Field Company, Royal Engineers, part of 54^th [East Anglian] Division.  Both units saw action in Gallipoli in 1915 and during the Palestine Campaign of 1917.[4]  Died: Frederick died in Long Melford of cardiac failure on 18.8.1919, is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[5]

Middleditch, James – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 15.4.1883. Parents: Charlotte Alice Middleditch (Dressmaker).  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891), lodging with Arthur Welch at High Street, Standon, Hertfordshire (1901).  Occupation: Railway Porter (1901), Carman [1902]. Married: Florence Mary Wells in 1909.  Service Record: James enlisted in 1902 as Pte.258 with the Royal Army Medical Corps, being posted to South Africa for service during the Second Anglo-Boer War.  Private Middleditch received his discharge in 1907.[6]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 23.5.1910.

Middleditch, Percy Cecil – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk 18.7.1895.[7] Parents: Arthur Middleditch (Carpenter) and Harriett [née Piper].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick Charles Middleditch [b1891] and brother-in-law of Harry William Gridley [b1893]. Home: Little St Marys, Long Melford (1901), Hall Street, Long Melford (1911), 11 Hillreach, Woolwich, London (1939), 28 St Catherines Road, Long Melford [1966].  Occupation: Grocer’s Errand Boy (1911), Removal Porter (1939).  Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, Percy may have enlisted as Dvr.T/2393, later renumbered as Dvr,931128 with 9^th B. M. Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.  If this assumption is correct, then he was treated for diarrhoea on board the Hospital Ship Assaye at Haifa on 31.10.1918.  This suggests that he had taken part in the Palestine Campaign in 1917.[8] Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 17.12.1966.[9]

Middleditch, William – Born: Stanningfield, Suffolk on 20.9.1881.[10]  Parents: William Middleditch 1835 (Agricultural Labourer) and Maria 1836.  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of George Stafford Gostling [b1884], William Aubrey Catt Gostling [b1887] and Samuel Sidney Gostling [b1890] of Liston and Long Melford.  Home: Stanningfield Green, Stanningfield, Suffolk (1891), Long Yard, Stanningfield (1911), Eastern Cottage, The Street, Thingoe, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911 to 1939).  Married: Sybil Marion Gostling of Long Melford in 1912.  Service Record: William enlisted as in 1901 as Tpr.5436 with 2^nd Dragoon Guards [Queen’s Bays], being posted to South Africa and seeing action at the Battle of Leeukop in 1902, taking part in further engagements in Cape Colony, Transvaal, and the Orange Free State during the Second Anglo-Boer War.  He returned to England in 1908 where he was placed on the Army Reserve, being mobilised on the declaration of War in August 1914.  Following his medical examination, he was considered ‘physically unfit for further military service’ and given his discharge.[11]  Died: Stanningfield, Suffolk on 21.1.1966.[12]

Related Biography

Gridley, Harry William – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 19.1.1893.[13]  Parent: Amelia Gridley (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Bertie Harry Gridley [b1896] and cousin of Harry Albert Gridley [b1871], Daniel Gridley [b1884], William Charles Gridley [b1887], Archie Stephen Gridley [b1890], Alfred Gridley [b1876] and Charles Gridley [b1879]; also, brother-in-law of Frederick Charles Middleditch [b1891] and Percy Charles Middleditch [b1895].  Home: Smaley Lane, Long Melford (1901), Little St Marys/St Marys Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1921), 26 St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1939) to [1977].  Occupation: Coconut Mat Labourer (1911), Coconut Matting Dyer [1916], Mat Finisher (1921), Coconut Mat Maker (1939) all for George Whittle, Mat Manufacturer of Long Melford.  Married: Bessie Rose Middleditch of Long Melford in 1929.  Service Record: Harry was conscripted on 20.11.1916 as Pte.320746 with the Suffolk Regiment.  His extant Service Record is missing many vital pages and what remains gives no indication to which particular battalion he was drafted; however, we are told that he was posted to the ‘MEF’ on 13.2.1917.  On the assumption that this acronym refers to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the most likely destination at this time would be to Salonika to join 1^st Battalion Suffolk Regiment, as part of 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division.  Harry was later transferred as Pte.573169 to 51^st Battalion, Labour Corps.[14]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 9.5.1977.[15]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 6.10.1872 for Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Soldiers’ Documents and Pension Claims, First World War [WO 364], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [3] Date of birth from Admission Register 18.11.1895, St Catherines Infants School, Long Melford. [4] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [5] Burial Register 22.8.1919, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  See also his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 928381]. [6] Militia Service Records 1806-1915 [WO 96]. [7] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 9.10.1895 for Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [8] Admission and Discharge Book for HMHS Assaye [TNA – MH 106/1925], see also his proposed Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [9] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar. [10] Date of birth from the 1939 Register. [11] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920. [12] Date of death taken from his gravestone in All Saints Churchyard, Bradfield Combust, Suffolk. [13] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 20.4.1893, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [14] For details of 1^st Suffolk’s movements in Salonika see War Diary [WO 95/4916].  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]. [15] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.