Leagrave

Aircraftsman 3rd Class Sidney Wilfred Clark

Air Mechanic 3rd Class Sidney Wilfred Clark, 161824, Royal Air Force, died in the 1st Eastern Central Hospital at Cambridge on July 15th, 1918, but his death and the cause appears to have gone unrecorded in local newspapers. He was aged 20.

Sidney is, however, commemorated on the Leagrave War Memorial in Marsh Road, near where he, his father Robert Henry, mother Florence Mary and three brothers and a sister had resided at the time. The family address was Carlton House, 35 Marsh Road. Sidney's name was also included in the Leagrave and Limbury Peace Day programme.

Private Arthur Jesse Little

Pte Arthur Jesse Little, 69011, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on August 30th, 1918. He was aged 20.

Born in Hertfordshire, he was one of four sons of Jesse and Emily Sarah Little, who in 1911 were living at Napps Nursery, Toddington Road, Leagrave. He is commemorated on the Leagrave War Memorial.

Private William James Hinds

Pte William James Hinds, 23459, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 3rd, 1918.

William was a son of George and Elizabeth Sarah Hinds, of Rose View, Cumberland Road [now Compton Avenue], Leagrave. He had been wounded in May 1917.

In the 1911 Census William was described as a 19-year-old nurseryman's assistant.

Private Horace Karl Leaney

Pte Horace Karl Leaney, 30858, Bedfordshire Yeomanry, died at Shoreham-on-Sea Military Hospital in Sussex from pneumonia on February 1st, 1918. He was wounded in action in May 1917 and had been in hospital ever since. He was buried at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Biscot, on February 8th.

Private George Scrivener

Pte George Scrivener, G/10241, 7th Battalion The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment, died on April 21st, 1917, while a prisoner of the Germans. He had developed inflammation of the bowel after being captured on November 18th, 1916. His death was eventually recorded in The Luton News on January 17th, 1918.

Born in Biscot in 1878, he had married Maria Smith at Biscot Parish Church on April 5th, 1902. The couple had two daughters - Lily Irene (born 1904) and Barbara Eleanor (1911). In 1911 they were living in Limbury, and George was working as a labourer for a nurseryman.

Private William Flitton

Pte William Flitton, 200760, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds on July 21st, 1917, after seeing action in Palestine. He had previously fought in the Gallipoli campaign in which he was wounded in the arm but quickly recovered to serve in Egypt.

William Flitton was born at Watbridge, East Hyde, the son of David and Jane Flitton, who were living at Letchworth Road, Limbury, at the time of their son's death. In the 1911 Census he is described as a 15-year-old farm labourer. He was employed on Mr Hartop's farm at Biscot before he joined up at the outbreak of war.

Private William Horsler

Pte William Horsler, G/50146, 11th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, died on May 6th, 1917, from severe wounds sustained on the battlefield. He left a widow and six children at their home in Limbury.

On May 5th a chaplain wrote to Ellen Horsler at Warden View, Limbury, informing her that her husband had wounds in both legs and his right hand, which had had to be amputated. Four days later another chaplain wrote that Pte Horsler had died on May 6th.

Private Alfred Ernest Dyer

 

Pte Alfred Ernest Dyer, 10729, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on February 26th, 1917. He was aged 21.

In a letter to parents James William and Mary Ann, of Vale Cottage, Marsh Road, Leagrave, Sec-Lieut C. Reeling wrote that Pte Dyer's death was a painless one as he died instantly.

Pte Dyer was an old boy of Norton Road School who had revisited the school on December 18th, 1916 before returning to France the following month. He was wounded in the Big Push on the Somme of July 1916 and was in a Liverpool hospital for 17 weeks.

Private Arthur Dumpleton

Pte Arthur Dumpleton, 27845, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 25th, 1916.

Born in 1877 at Stopsley, he was a son of Daniel and Ann Dumpleton. He was living with his then widower father in Gardenia Avenue, Leagrave, at the time of the 1911 Census and, like his parent, had become a gamekeeper. Daniel was bailiff at Little Bramingham Farm in 1881 and gamekeeper at Wigmore Hall Farm in 1891, when the family lived at Ramridge End Cottage. Both father and son were gamekeepers at Little Bramingham Farm in 1901.

Private Frank Wilson

 

Pte Frank Wilson, 8940, 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, died in the Military Hospital at South Tidworth, Hants, on September 15th, 1915, following wounds sustained while fighting at Neuve Chapelle. He was aged 21.

Sapper Nathaniel John Fowler

 

Sapper Nathaniel John Fowler, 1511, 1st/2nd (North Midland) Field Company, Royal Engineers, died on April 21st, 1915, from abdomens wounds received in action on April 18th. Aged 31 and a native of Harpenden, he lived at Leagrave and left a widow and two children.

Sapper Fowler was the son of the late Mr James Fowler, a bootmaker, of Wheathampstead Road, Harpenden, and his widow, and had three brothers living in Harpenden.

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