Selected Biography

Munson, Arthur William – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1887.  Parents: Benjamin Munson (Groom) and Alice [née Skipper] (Dressmaker).  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Frederick French Scott [b1880].   Home: Rodbridge Street, Long Melford (1891), Tills Cottage, Butchers Lane, Boxford, Suffolk (1901), Crownhill Barracks, Plympton St Mary, Devon (1911).  Occupation: Baker’s Boy (1901), Labourer [1904], Soldier (1911) to [1915].  Service Record: Arthur enlisted in 1907 as Pte.7479 with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, purchasing his discharge in 1908.[1]  He re-enlisted with 2^nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters [Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire] Regiment in 1911, transferring as Pte.11315 to 1^st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters.  He was posted to France from 4.11.1914 as part of 24^th Brigade, 8^th Division, seeing action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle during March and April 1915.[2]  Died: Private Munson was killed in action on 9.5.1915, the opening day of the Battle of Aubers, and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial [panel 7], Comines-Warneton, Hainaut in Belgium, and on the War Memorial in St Mary’s Churchyard, Boxford, Suffolk.[3]

Related Biographies

Cockrell, William Lawrence – Born: Colchester, Essex in 1893.  Parents: Henry Matthew Cockrell (Bricklayer’s Labourer) and Emily Pamela [née Bell].  Family Connections:  Home: 78 Priory Street, Colchester, Essex (1901), 87 Barrack Street Colchester, Colchester (1911), 3 Foundry Yard, Hythe Hill, Colchester [1915 to 1919], Distillery Lodge, Old Heath Road, Colchester [1919 to 1932].[4]  Occupation: General Labourer (1911), Engine Driver [1916], Warehouse Labourer (1921).  Married: Edith May Munson in 1919.  Service Record: William was conscripted on 16.11.1915 as Pte.G/72737 with 29^th [Works] Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex Regiment].  Of the six months he spent in the Army after his mobilization, five were spent in the infirmary being treated, albeit unsuccessfully for chronic eczema and sycosis.  On 19.5.1917 he was deemed permanently unfit for duty and issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged.[5]  Died: Colchester, Essex in 1950.

Scott, Frederick French – Born: Stutton, Suffolk on 10.5.1880.[6]  Parents: George Scott (Labourer) and Kate Evelyn Eva [née Perry].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Arthur William Munson [b1887].  Home: Back Street, Stutton, Suffolk (1881), Lower Street, Stutton (1891 to 1911), Muckwell Farm, Samford, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Horseman on Farm (1901), Agricultural Labourer (1911), Horseman on Farm (1939).  Married: Alice Mary Munson of Long Melford in 1906.  Service Record: Frederick was conscripted on 19.5.1916 as Pte.202273 with 1/4^th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, being posted to the Dardanelles and landing at Suvla Bay on 15.8.1915 as part of 162^nd [East Midland] Brigade, 54^th (East Anglian) Division.  Following the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign in December, the British and Empire positions were evacuated, regrouping in Egypt shortly after.  In 1917 his unit took part in the Palestine Campaign, fighting at Gaza and Jaffa and the following year at Ras el’Ain and Sharon.  By the time of his discharge in February 1919, Private Scott was stationed in Egypt serving with his Regiment’s 1^st Garrison Battalion.[7] Death: Ipswich, Suffolk in 1962.  Died: Ipswich, Suffolk in 1962.

Notes – [1] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1908.  [2] For details of the action see 1^st Sherwood Forester’s War Diary [WO 95/1721/1].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 171164].  [4] Some addresses taken from the Electoral Roll.  [5] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], [WO 329 – Silver War Badge [ref: 201787], and Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [6] 1939 Register.  [7] For more details of Frederick Scott’s movements see his battalion’s War Diary [TNA – WO 95/4325] and for background to the wider campaigns see http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/.  See also his Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].