A village with a big story
William Ovens was one of the first of a score or so vulnerable children sent by the Dr Barnardo’s Charity in London to be fostered by Melford residents from the late 1880s.
Selected Biography
Ovens, William – Born: London on 6.9.1888.[1] Parents: A Barnardo’s Boy in the care of Hannah Moss [née Strutt] of Long Melford. His parentage is not known. Home: Station Road, Long Melford (1891), Rotten Row, Long Melford (1901). Little St Marys, Long Melford (1911). Occupation: Cowman on Farm (1911). Service Record: Although no definitive military record has been found, William may have enlisted in April 1915 as Pte.3260 with 1/5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. If this assumption is correct then he would have been posted to Gallipoli on 2.12.1915 as part of 163rd Brigade, 54th [East Anglian] Division, only to be evacuated with the whole Allied force to Egypt a matter of days later. In 1917 he would have been issued with a new service number and as Pte.240941 and taken part in the Palestine Campaign of 1917.[2]
Notes – [1] Date of birth from the Admission Register of 10.12.1895 for St Catherines Infants School, Long Melford. [2] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].