Selected Biographies

Mott, Cyril George – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 6.6.1923.[1]  Parents: John Burton Mott (Agricultural Labourer) [see below for details] and Elizabeth Jessie [née Pettitt].  Family Connections: Nephew of Sidney Mott [b1886] and George Stanley Mott [b1913].  Home: Bridge Street, Long Melford (1921 to 1939).  Occupation: Cowman (1939).  Service Record: Cyril enlisted as Pte.14545245 with 2^nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to India as part of 123^rd Indian Infantry Brigade, 5^th Indian Infantry Division.  Under the overall command of 14^th Army, he saw action during the Burma Campaign against the Japanese, on the Arakan Peninsula and at Imphal in India.[2]  Died: on 15.4.1944 during the Battle of Imphal and is buried in Imphal War Cemetery [grave ref: 6.F.17], India and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[3]

Mott, George Stanley – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 24.11.1913.[4]  Parents: George Mott (Cowman) and Elsie Mabel [née Mitchell].  Family Connections: Nephew of John Burton Mott [b1882] and Sidney Mott [b1886]; also, cousin of Cyril John Mott [b1923].  Home: Red Brick Cottage, Fornham All Saints, Suffolk (1921), 6 Meadow Lane, Thurston, Suffolk [1942].  Occupation: Labourer [1940].  Service Record: George enlisted as Pte.5833062 with 4^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and was posted to Singapore as part of 18^th Division, falling into Japanese hands on 17.2.1942, two days after the island formally surrendered.  The George and his comrades were held under starvation conditions and used as forced labour to build of the infamous Burma Railway.[5]  Died: of colitis on 23.7.1943 while a prisoner of war and cremated, re-interred on 13.8.1945 in Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery [grave ref: B6.A.10], Myanmar and commemorated on the Roll of Honour in St Peters Church, Thurston, Suffolk.[6]

Mott, John Burton – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 30.7.1882.  Parents: Walter Edward Mott (Agricultural Labourer) and Ellen Ann [née Younger] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Father to Cyril John Mott [b1923]; also, brother of Sidney Mott [b1886] and uncle of George Stanley Mott [b1913].  Home: Bridge Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1911).[7]  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), Horsekeeper for Mr Fisher of Bridge Street [1916], Agricultural Labourer for Mr Wilson of Rowhedge Farm (1921).  Married: Elizabeth Jessie Pettitt in 1905.  Service Record: John enlisted in 1902 as Pte.5683 with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, purchasing his discharge in 1903.  At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in May 1916 his employer applied for his exemption, which was granted on the condition his situation remained unchanged.  This does not appear to have been revoked and no definitive First World War record has been found.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1944.[8]

Mott, John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 18.9.1896.  Parents: Samuel Mott (Horseman on Farm) and Harriet [née King].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Harry Johnson [b1889].  Home: Park Farm, Long Melford (1901), School Meadow, Alpheton, Suffolk (1911), near the Post Office in Bridge Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Labourer (1911), Agricultural Labourer (1939).[9]  Married: Ethel M. Holsworth in 1933.  Service Record: John was attested in 1915 as Pte.9444 with 8^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, posted to France from 14.8.1915 as part of 53^rd Brigade, 18^th [Eastern] Division.  He was later transferred to 4^th Suffolks.  Both units saw action during the Somme Offensive of 1916.  At his discharge he is recorded as Pte.5815390.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1974.[10]

Mott, Sydney – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 5.11.1886.[11]  Parents: Walter Edward Mott (Agricultural Labourer) and Ellen Ann [née Younger] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to John Burton Mott [b1882]; also, uncle of George Stanley Mott [b1913] and Cyril George Mott [b1923].  Home: Bridge Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1911), 4 Council House, High Street, Long Melford (1939).[12]  Occupation: Farm Servant (1901), Agricultural Labourer on Ford Hall Farm, Long Melford (1911), Agricultural Labourer (1939), Night Soil Collector [1940s and 1950s].  Married: Florence Piper [widow] in 1916.  Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in March 1916 Sidney was granted a temporary exemption for two months.  At a subsequent hearing in October 1916, Sydney’s employer Charles Pick of Ford Hall, Long Melford applied for further exemption, which was refused.  Sydney may have been conscripted as Gnr.209994 with the Royal Field Artillery.[13]  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1960.

Related Biographies

Johnson, Harry – Born: Hartest, Suffolk on 28.9.1889.[14] Parents: Charles Johnson (Agricultural Labourer) and Emma [née Flack]. Family Connections: Brother to James Johnson [b1894] and Charles Johnson [b1896]; also, brother-in-law of John Mott [b1896] and Herbert James Reynolds [b1899]. Home: Ballingdon Yard, Hartest, Suffolk (1891), Bulney Moors Farm Cottage, Heaven Lane, Long Melford (1901), Military Barracks, Egypt (1911), Bulney Moors Farm, Long Melford [1918], Clay Pits Cottages, Foxearth, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Labourer [1907], Soldier [1907 to 1919], Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Elizabeth M. Mott in 1928.  Service Record: Harry enlisted in July 1907 as Pte.7589 with ‘C’ Company, 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, serving in Malta and Egypt.  At the start of the First World War, he was stationed at Khartoum in the Sudan.  He was posted to France from 16.1.1915, as part of 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division, the Battalion taking over trenches in the Verbrandenmolen sector to the south of Ypres.  On 15.2.1915 German troops broke through the British front line, overwhelming trenches held by ‘C’ Company; it was during this action that Harry Johnson received a gunshot wound to the head and together with the other survivors in his company was taken prisoner.[15]  Private Johnson was transported first to a German field hospital at Lille, then on to Prisoner of War camps at Friedrichsfeld and Wahn near Cologne, being repatriated to England on 29.12.1918.[16]  On 6.2.1919 he was transferred to 11^th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, finally being discharged in July 1919.[17]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1940.

Oliver, Charles David – Born: Bocking, Essex on 10.12.1889.[18] Parents: James Oliver (Coal Dealer) and Emily Jane [née Cottis].  Home: Manor Road, Bocking, Essex (1901), College House, Bradford Lane, Bocking [1889 to 1914], 162 Villiers Road, Willesden, Middlesex (1921), 68 Fullers Road, Woodford, Essex [1926 to 1931], Post Office, Village Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire (1939), Post Office, Arlesey Road, Ickleford, Hertfordshire [1967].  Occupation: Harness Maker (1911), Harness Maker for the Great Eastern Railway (1921), Master Saddler, Boot Repairer and Sub-Postmaster (1939).  Married: Alice Jane Mott of Long Melford in 1918.  Service Record: Charles enlisted on 17.11.1914 as Dvr.TS/1445 with 150^th [Horse Transport] Company, Army Service Corps.  He was posted to France on 25.7.1915, joining the Headquarters Company, 18^th Divisional Train as a saddler and harness repairer.  During his time on the Western Front his division saw action at the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and Third Ypres the following year.  Invalided to England, he was discharged in June 1919.[19]  Died: Ickleford, Hertfordshire on 3.11.1967.[20]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] For more information regarding the Suffolk’s part in the campaign see Guthrie Moir The Suffolk Regiment [Leo Cooper Ltd, London: 1969].  [3] Commonwealth War Grave Commission.  [4] POW Index Card. [5] [TNA – WO 361/1947] Japanese Prisoner of War Name List, [WO 345/37] Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, Second World War, 1942-1945, [WO 361/1633] Far East: unreported Allied prisoner of war deaths, [WO 392/25] Directorate of Prisoners of War: Prisoners of War Lists, Second World War, 1943-1945 and [WO 367/3] POW camp registration cards.  [6] Commonwealth War Grave Commission.  [7] Recorded as Moat in 1891, and Mott in 1921 and 1939.  [8] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 3.8.1884, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  Recorded as John Moat [sic] on the UK Census for 1891.  For the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.5.1916.  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [9] Recorded as Moat in 1901, and Mott in 1911 and 1939.  [10] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Long Melford and the Death Index.  For details of 8^th Suffolk’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2039/1-5] and for 4^th Suffolk’s see War Diary [WO 95/2427/2].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [11] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 6.2.1887, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [12] Recorded as Moat in 1891 and 1901, and Mott in 1911 and 1939.  [13] For the Tribunal’s rulings see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 15.3.1916 and 11.1.1916.  Sydney is recorded as a ‘Soldier’ [unit unknown] at the christening of his son, see Baptism Register 1.4.1917, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [14] Date of birth from his Prisoner of War record held by the International Committee of the Red Cross.  The 1939 Register for Halstead Rural District in Essex records his birth year as 1888 and confirms his wife’s name.  His birth year of 1889 has been used because it is also consistent with the Birth Index which records that his birth was registered in the fourth quarter of 1889.  [15] For details of 1^st Suffolks’ movements see War Diary [WO 95/2277/3], for details of the action see Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.49-55.  [16] For Harry’s POW records see ICRC website [file refs: PA2090, PA4291, PA7319 and PA7862].  [17] 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].  [18] 1939 Register.  [19] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [20] National Probate Calendar.