Selected Biographies

Webb, George – Born: St Pancras, London on 2.7.1886.[1]  Parent: Joseph Webb (Police Constable) and Keziah [née Lawrence].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Albert George Boreham [b1892] and Harry Dennis Boreham [b1896].  Home: 87 Harrison Street, St Pancras, London (1891), The Cock, High Street, Layston, Hertfordshire (1901), Southgate Street, Long Melford [1919], 9 Wheatley Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire (1939).  Occupation: Bricklayer’s Labourer (1901), Iron Moulder [1914].  Married: Edith Maud Boreham of Long Melford in 1919.  Service Record: George enlisted on 7.9.1914 as a Private with 7^th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.  He was transferred as Pte.2897 to the East Surrey Regiment, then on 10.9.1914 to 4^th [Extra Reserve] Battalion and on 18.2.1915 to 1^st Battalion, which was serving in France as part of 5^th Division’s 14^th Brigade.  During April and May 1915, the Battalion saw action during the Second Battle of Ypres and the Somme Offensive of 1916.  It was while with his unit near Delville Wood on 29.7.1916 that Private Webb received a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, occasioning his return to England two days later.  By February 1917 he had been promoted and moved as Cpl.47934 to the Suffolk Regiment, transferring first to its 3^rd [Special Reserve] Battalion on 26.1.1918, then to 11^th [Service] Battalion and finally on 25.5.1918 to 15^th [Suffolk Yeomanry] Battalion, with the rank of Lance Sergeant.  The last-named battalion had previously been engaged in operations in Gallipoli and Palestine before moving to the Western Front in May 1918 under the command of 74^th [Yeomanry] Division’s 230^th Brigade.   By September 15^th Suffolk was in the Somme valley, taking part in an attack on German held trenches at Templeux-le-Fosse and Gurlu Wood on 5.9.1918, which although considered a success, cost Webb’s unit a hundred casualties.  The attack was renewed on 18.9.1918 at the Battle of Épehy when the defenders were taken by surprise and nearly 12,000 German prisoners had been taken into captivity by the end of the day.  George’s battalion was at the gates of Tournai in Belgium when the Armistice was called on 11.11.1918.  He received his discharge in March 1919.[2]  Died: Hatfield, Hertfordshire in 1972.

Webb, James William – Born: Great Wratting, Suffolk on 27.11.1904.[3]  Parents: James Edward Webb (Postman) and Lily [née Cornell].  Home: The Street, Great Markting, Great Wratting, Suffolk, (1911 to 1921), Hare Villas, High Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Cowman (1939).  Service Record: James 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.[4]  Died: Sudbury in 1999.

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] For details of 1^st East Surrey’s movements during Webb’s time with the unit see War Diaries [WO 95/1563/2-4] and WO 95/1579/1].  For details of 15^th Suffolks time on the Western Front see War Diary [WO 95/3153/3].   See also his 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].  He is recorded on Marriage Register 2.1.1919, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford as serving with 15^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  [3] 1939 register.  [4] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.