Fellow local historian, Cynthia Budd, has meticulously researched the men listed on the Great War Memorials throughout the Shellrock Benefice (Great Ellingham, Little Ellingham, Rockland All Saints, Rockland St Peter and Shropham with Snetterton).
She has kindly allowed me to reproduce her tributes to the Great Ellingham men, on the Great Ellingham One-Place Study website.
Great War memorial tablet on the west wall of the Church of St James, Great Ellingham
The following is Cynthia’s piece commemorating Private 42179, George Reginald Saunders, 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment:
Private George Reginald Saunders
Image courtesy of Norfolk County Council at www.picture.norfolk.gov.uk
George was born in Great Ellingham, his birth was registered in the second quarter of 1899. His parents were George and Hannah Saunders (née Leeder). In 1911 they had been married for 27 years, had 7 children, 1 had died. George was their youngest child, his siblings were; Edith, William, Sidney, Clara and Ethel. In 1901 and 1911 they lived on Church St. Great Ellingham. George Senior was a self-employed carpenter and builder. In 1911 George junior was still at school.
He was called up 11 June 1917, probably on, or close to, his 18th birthday. One of his few Army records notes that he enlisted in Newmarket and was a resident of Prickwillow. His parents were still in Great Ellingham. George served with the 2nd Bedfords who fought on the Western Front. He probably joined them on the Somme in April or May 1918, possibly a little before his 19th birthday. The age for overseas service was lowered to under 19 on 10 April 1918 to meet increasing needs for personnel.
Private Saunders was an accomplished marksman.
The 2nd Bedfords suffered a steady trickle of casualties throughout May and June 1918. On 1st and 2nd July after an attack on the German trenches near Albert they had 111 casualties. The rest of July was spent resting then training. The majority of August was spent holding the line.
However, on 6 August the Germans penetrated the line causing 120 casualties. On 22 August the Battalion had 59 casualties whilst relieving the Royal Fusiliers. Over the next few days their Brigade was ordered to advance and on 24 August they ‘advanced 1000yards without opposition’. 25 August; ‘the battalion took part in the attack and capture of Fricourt. The line was advanced about 2 miles’.
On 28 August the 2nd Bedfords relieved the Royal Berkshires in the Front Line. On 29 August, the day Private Saunders lost his life, the War Diary says ‘the Battalion advanced without opposition … taking Guillemont’. Information from prisoners revealed that the enemy intended to hold the next line. As the 2nd Bedfords went forward they were ‘held up by strong machine gun fire from the enemy positions … ’. Their casualties were; 4 other ranks killed, 34 other ranks wounded.
Private Saunders, aged 19, and two of his comrades were buried in a small battlefield plot a short distance from where they fell, the fourth man in a separate plot.
In May 1920 their bodies were exhumed and reburied in Combles Communal Cemetery Extension. His headstone inscription reads ‘DEATH DIVIDES BUT MEMORY CLINGS’. He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals.
The Norwich Mercury of 21 September 1918 published his obituary;
'SAUNDERS. - In memory of our dear boy George Reginald, who fell in action … youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. George Saunders of Great Ellingham. "God has taken him from war's inferno to the realms of peace".' (from Chris Clarke).
The Deanery Magazine of October 1918 confirmed that he had been killed by machine-gun fire. He was commemorated at a Memorial Service held at St James' 29 December 1918, along with three other Great Ellingham men who fell during that year.
With many thanks to Cynthia Budd and Chris Clarke.
Cynthia’s sources. Please note that the sources include research carried out in relation to all the ‘fallen’ of the Great War throughout the Shellrock Benefice. Accordingly, not all the sources will be applicable to Great Ellingham :
Ancestry UK: Birth, Marriage, Death and Parish Records. Census Records and Electoral Rolls. Probate Records.Military Records; Army/Navy Service Records. UK Soldiers Died in the Great War Roll. Medal Index Cards. Medal Award Rolls. The Register of Soldiers’ Effects. War Diaries. Canadian Military Records.
Archant Archives, Norwich. Also Thetford Library; The Thetford & Watton Times.
Australian War Records Websites: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
FindMyPast; Military Service Records. Electoral Rolls. British Newspaper Archive. The 1939 Register.
The General Record Office.
The History of the Norfolk Regiment 1914-1918 F Loraine Peter OBE
The London GazetteThe National Archives
The Norfolk Heritage Centre, The Forum, Norwich. Breckles and District Deanery Magazines. Norwich Mercury (Microfiche)
The Norfolk Record Office.
Norwich Cathedral Library; 1919 Diocesan Roll of Honour.
Picture Norfolk https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/libraries/picture-norfolk
The Red Cross https://grandguerre.icrc.org
Various Regimental Websites.