Selected Biographies

Munden, Alfred George – Born: Woodham Walter, Essex on 15.10.1893.[1] Parents: William John Munden (Builder) and Annie [née Harrington].  Family Connections: Brother to Percy Charles Munden [b1895].  Home: The Street, Woodham Walter, Essex (1901) to [1918 ER], Rectory Road, Woodham Walter (1921), 27 Lindsay Avenue, Blackpool, Lancashire (1939).  Occupation: Retired Potato Merchant (1939). Married: Florence Bainbridge in 1919.  Service Record: Alfred enlisted in 1911 as Pte.1275 with 5^th Battalion, Essex Regiment.  During the First World War he served as Pte.42873 in the South Staffordshire Regiment being captured at Messines on 10.4.1918 and incarcerated as a Prisoner of War at Stendal in Germany.[2]  Died: Colchester, Essex in 1975.

Munden, Percy Charles – Born: Woodham Walter, Essex on 25.1.1885.[3] Parents: William John Munden (Builder) and Annie [née Harrington].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred George Munden [b1893]; also, brother-in-law of Albert Ernest Theobald [b1889], Basil Edward Theobald [b1892] and Montague Samuel Theobald [b1899].  Home: The Street, Woodham Walter, Essex (1901) to [1918], Smaley Lane, Long Melford [1919] to (1921), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939).[4]  Occupation: House Boy (1911), Carpenter for the Sudbury Concrete Company (1921), Motor Driver (1939).  Married: Minnie Theobald of Long Melford in 1919.  Service Record: Percy enlisted as Pte.12575 with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Essex Regiment being posted to France on 30.5.1915 as part of 35^th Brigade, 12^th (Eastern) Division.  His unit was sent first to the Ploegsteert Wood Sector, before being transferred to trenches near Loos, fighting in the Action of the Hohenzollern Redoubt during the Battle of Loos in the autumn of 1915.  He also saw action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and received a shrapnel wound to his left hand while stationed near Arras in March 1917.  Later that year 9^th Essex were in action at Cambrai, followed in 1918, by the Battles of Bapaume, Arras, Amiens, Albert, the Hindenburg Line, and the Final Advance in Artois.[5]    By the time of his discharge in June 1919 he had risen to the rank of Sergeant.[6]  Died: Long Melford in 1969.

Related Biographies

Theobald, Albert Ernest – Born: Borley, Essex in 1889.  Parents: Thomas William Theobald (Agricultural Labourer) and Anna Maria [née Finch].  Family Connections: Brother to Basil Edward Theobald [b1892] and Montague Samuel Theobald [b1899]; also, brother-in-law of Percy Charles Munden [b1895].  Home: The Green, Borley, Essex (1891), Purkiss Farm, Borley, Essex (1901 to 1911).  Occupation: Horseman on Farm (1911).  Married: Kate Everett in 1913.  Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, Albert may have been conscripted as Pte.G/34273 with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, later transferring to the Regiment’s 2^nd Battalion.  Both units saw action on the Western Front during the First World War.[7]  Died: Gipping, Suffolk on 27.2.1936.

Theobald, Basil Edward – Born: Borley, Essex on 22.1.1892.[8]  Parents: Thomas William Theobald (Agricultural Labourer) and Anna Maria [née Finch].  Family Connections: Brother to Albert Ernest Theobald [b1889] and Montague Samuel Theobald [b1899]; also, brother-in-law of Percy Charles Munden [b1895].  Home: Purkiss Farm, Borley, Essex (1901 to 1911), 73 Cressing Road, Witham, Essex (1939), 2 Grays Terrace, Maldon Road, Hatfield Peverel, Essex [1976].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), Police Constable [1915] to (1939).  Married: Edith Thurlow in 1919.  Service Record: Basil enlisted on 19.11.1915 as an Aircraft Mechanic N^o.F9309 with the Royal Naval Air Service.  On 1.4.1918 he transferred as N^o.209309 to the Royal Air Force.[9]  Died: Hatfield Peverel, Essex on 2.1.1976.[10]

Theobald, Montague Samuel – Born: Borley, Essex on 12.5.1899.[11]  Parents: Thomas William Theobald (Agricultural Labourer) and Anna Maria [née Finch].  Family Connections: Brother to Albert Ernest Theobald [b1889] and Basil Edward Theobald [b1892]; also, brother-in-law of Percy Charles Munden [b1895].  Home: Purkiss Farm, Borley, Essex (1901 to 1911), Old Road, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex (1939) to [1993].  Occupation: Police Constable (1939).  Married: Florence Beatrice Mower [d1922] in 1921 and Violet Lilian Claggett in 1926.  Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, Montague may have been conscripted as Pte.35262 with 5^th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment.  If this assumption is correct, then he was transferred to the Regiment’s 9^th Battalion before moving as Pte.80266 to the Northumberland Fusiliers.[12]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register and POW Record.  [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363] and International Committee of the Red Cross [Ref: PA 38164].  [3] 1939 Register.  [4] See also the Electoral Roll.  [5] For more details of these actions see the Battalion’s War Diary [TNA – WO 97/1851].  [6] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [7] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [8] Date of birth taken from his RN Record.  [9] Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188] and Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940 [AIR 79].  [10] National Probate Calendar.  [11] 1939 Register.  [12] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].