Selected Biographies

Perkins, Bertie John – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 23.10.1882.[1]  Parents: Henry Perkins (Fitter of Steam Looms) and Mary [née Hebditch].  Family Connections: Father to Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1906] and brother of Reginald Thomas Hebditch Perkins [b1876] and Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1889]; also, uncle of Eric Stanley Perkins [b1906] and Maurice James Perkins [b1916].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1911), 10 Bull Lane, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Carpenter (1901 and 1911), Carpenter and Joiner (1939).  Married: Rose Hannah Cadge in 1906.  Service Record: Bertie served in South Africa seeing action during the Second Anglo-Boer War.  Up to 1908 he was a member of ‘D’ Company, 2^nd [Volunteer] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  On 5.5.1914 he enlisted as Pte.2013 with 5^th Battalion, Suffolks being engaged on home service.  He was promoted and transferred on 12.12.1914 as Cpl.40945 to ‘B’ Company, 7^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks and posted to France from 26.12.1916 to 29.11.1917 as part of 35^th Brigade, 12^th [Eastern] Division.  On 1.4.1917 Private Perkins was wounded in the throat and chin by a grenade during a training exercise.  He was later promoted to Sgt.40945 in the Battalion’s ‘A’ Company and returned to the front line.  On 30.11.1917 he was captured at ‘Cheshire’ quarry during a German counterattack and sent first to Münster II Prisoner of War camp in Westphalia, then to the camp at Parchim in Mecklenburg.  Following his repatriation to England at the end of 1918, he was discharged in February 1919.[2]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1951.[3]

Perkins, Eric Stanley – Born: Dagenham, Essex on 18.7.1906.[4]   Parents: Reginald Thomas Hebditch Perkins [see below for military details] and Florence Gertrude Everett [née Sargent] both residents of Long Melford.  Family Connections: Nephew of Bertie John Perkins [b1882] and Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1889]; also, cousin of Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1906] and Maurice James Perkins [b1916].  Home: 16 Northlands Street, Camberwell, London (1911), 20 Brecon Street, Cardiff, Wales (1921), Sunningdale, Woolacombe, Devon (1939).  Occupation: Errand Boy (1921), General Labourer (1939).  Married: Marjorie Phyllis Sharpe in 1931.  Service Record: Eric was conscripted on 17.10.1940 as Gnr.1627462 and in May 1942 joined 138 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery at Newmarket, receiving his discharge on 8.8,1945.[5]  Died: Bristol in 1983.

Perkins, Maurice James – Born: West Derby, Lancashire on 7.10.1916.[6]   Parents: Maurice Stanley Perkins of Long Melford 1889-1918 [see below for military details] and Emma [née Firkins].  Family Connections: Nephew of Reginald Thomas Hebditch Perkins [b1876] and Bertie John Perkins [b1882]; also, cousin of Eric Stanley Perkins [b1906] and Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1906].  Home: 2 Ennismore Road, Stanley, Liverpool [1918] to (1939).  Occupation: Builder’s Clerk (1939).  Married: Gladys Roberts in 1942.  Service Record: Maurice enlisted with the Royal Corps of Signals during the Second World War.[7]   Died: Tarporley, Cheshire on 22.11.1992.

Perkins, Maurice Stanley – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 12.12.1889.[8]  Parents: Henry Perkins (Fitter of Steam Looms) and Mary [née Hebditch].  Family Connections: Father to Maurice James Perkins [b1916] and brother of Reginald Thomas Hebditch Perkins [b1876] and Bertie John Perkins [b1882]; also, uncle of Eric Stanley Perkins [b1906] and Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1906].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), 1 Holland Park, Kensington, London (1911), 2 Ennismore Road, Stanley, Liverpool (1918).  Occupation: Footman (1911), Hotel Waiter [1915].  Married: Emma Firkins in 1912.  Service Record: Maurice was conscripted on 8.12.1915 as Pte.386 with 3/1^st West Lancashire Divisional Cyclist Company.  He was transferred on 11.12.1916 as Pte.45450 to 18^th [Service] Battalion [1^st Tyneside Pioneers], Northumberland Fusiliers joining them on the Western Front as part of 34^th Division, his unit seeing action during the Arras Offensive and Third Battles of Ypres in 1917.  He returned to England on 28.9.1917, transferring in November as Private, later L/Cpl.78215, to 2/7^th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry at that time stationed at Frinton in Essex.  In October 1918 he was transferred again, this time to 4^th [Extra Reserve] Battalion, Durham Lights as part of the Tyne Garrison.[9]  Died: on 26.11.1918 of endocarditis at Hamilton Road School, an annex of Colchester General Military Hospital and is buried in Liverpool [Anfield] Cemetery [grave ref: IX.C.E.502], Lancashire and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[10]

Perkins, Maurice Stanley – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 4.9.1906.[11]  Parents: Bertie John Perkins (Carpenter and Joiner) [see above for military details] and Rose Hannah [née Cadge].  Family Connections: Nephew Reginald Thomas Hebditch Perkins [b1876] and Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1889]; also, cousin of Eric Stanley Perkins [b1906] and Maurice James Perkins [b1916].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1921), 50 High Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Bricklayer’s Apprentice (1921), Bricklayer (1939).  Married: Gladys Rebecca Lockwood in 1930.  Service Record: During the Second World War Maurice was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford, being part of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[12]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1974.[13]

Perkins, Reginald Thomas Hebditch – Born: Bruton, Somerset on 6.7.1877.[14]  Parents: Henry Perkins (Steam Loom Fitter) and Mary Jane [née Hebditch].  Family Connections: Father to Eric Stanley Perkins [b1906] and brother of Bertie John Perkins [b1882] and Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1889]; also, uncle of Maurice Stanley Perkins [b1906] and Maurice James Perkins [b1916].  Home: Church Street, Castle Cary, Somerset (1881), Hall Street, Long Melford (1891), 19 Duke Street, Aldgate, London [1902], 16 Northlands Street, Camberwell, London (1911), 20 Brecon Street, Cardiff, Wales (1921), Grand View Bungalow, Barnstable, Devon (1939).  Occupation: Millwright (1891), Carpenter and Joiner (1911 to 1939).  Married: Florence Gertrude Everett Sargent in 1902.  Service Record: Reginald enlisted on 31.3.1900 as Pte.6941 with 1^st Battalion, Essex Regiment, having previously been a member of the unit’s 1^st [Volunteer] Battalion.  He was posted to South Africa from 11.5.1900 and seeing action during the Second Boer War in Transvaal and Cape Colony, receiving his discharge in June the following year.[15]  It is not known if he served during the First World War as no definitive military record has been found.  Died: Bournemouth, Dorset 1953.

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] For details of the action see 7^th Suffolk’s War Diary [WO 95/1852/3] and Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.236-37.  See also his POW record see International Committee of the Red Cross [file refs: PA19691 and PA19467], 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].  [3] Phot courtesy of Colin Perkins.  [4] 1939 Register.  [5] -Royal Artillery Tracer Cards, 1939-1948.  [6] 1939 Register.  [7] Unit based on a photograph courtesy of Colin Perkins.  [8] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 9.1.1890, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford.  [9] For details of 34th Division’s movements see www.longlongtrail.co.uk.  See also 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].  [10] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 844335].  [11] 1939 Register.  [12] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.  [13] Photograph courtesy of Colin Perkins.  [14] 1939 Register.  [15] Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers Service Documents [WO 97/5678].