Selected Biographies

Walford, Arthur George – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 26.6.1907.[1]  Parents: George Walford (Maltster’s Labourer) and Maud [née Martin].  Home: Southgate Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1939), 17 Martins Rise, Long Melford [1983].  Occupation: Factory Hand at George Whittle’s Coconut Matting Factory (1921), Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Norah Victoria Hardy in 1929.  Service Record: Arthur 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.[2]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 16.4.1983.[3]

Walford, Frederick – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1869.  Parents: John Walford (Blacksmith) and Maria [née Woodgate].  Home: Rotten Row/Southgate Street, Long Melford (1871 to 1891).  Occupation: Coconut Mat Maker for George Whittle (1891), Labourer [1893].  Service Record: Frederick enlisted in 1893 as Pte.3690 with the Suffolk Regiment, being posted to the East Indies from 1896 with 2^nd Battalion, Suffolks, transferring to South Africa in 1902 and seeing action during the latter stages of the Second Anglo-Boer War, before his discharge in November 1905.[4]   It is not known if he saw service during the First World War as no definitive military record has been found.

Related Biography

Mansfield, Bertie Thomas – Born: Fordham, Essex on 16.7.1886.[5]  Parents: Thomas George Mansfield (Farm Bailiff) and Mildred Poulter [née Allington].  Family Connections: Brother to Samuel William Mansfield [b1875] and Robert Daniel Mansfield of Long Melford [b1893]; also, uncle of Robert Clifford Mansfield [b1914].  Home: Rotten Row, Long Melford (1891 to 1901), Military Barracks, Egypt (1911), St Catherines Road, Long Melford (1939) to [1955].  Occupation: Hay Trusser (1901), Thatcher for William Bigg of Burtons Farm [1916], Builder’s Labourer (1939).  Married: Sarah Ann Walford in 1910.  Service Record: Bertie was serving as a Signaller with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment stationed in Egypt in 1911.  At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in July 1916 Bertie’s employer William Bigg applied for his exemption from conscription, which was granted on the condition his situation remained unchanged.  In early November 1916 Bigg was again asking for exemption.  A decision was delayed pending a medical examination, which by the end of the month had again been made conditional.[6]  It is not known if Mansfield’s certificate remained valid until the end of hostilities, however no definitive military record has been found to suggest otherwise.  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on 16.10.1955.[7]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] Published in 1946 by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk.  [3] National Probate Calendar.  [4] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [TNA – WO 97].  [5] 1939 Register for Long Melford, Suffolk.  [6] For the Tribunal’s rulings see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 26.7.1916, 8.11.1916 and 29.11.1916.  [7] Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.