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 51032, Henry Leverett, 11th Battalion, the Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment):
Henry was born in Hingham in 1882. His mother, Elizabeth, had been a widow since March 1875. She had given birth to at least six children by her husband, James. Henry was the second child to be born after James' death, the first was George in 1877.
On census day 1881, Elizabeth was in Hingham with seven children aged 3-17. The eldest three were working and Elizabeth was also earning a little money as a laundress. Henry was born about a year later and on census day 1891, the family of six lived on Deopham Road, Hingham. Elizabeth was a charwoman, four sons aged 13-23 were agricultural labourers and Henry, aged 9, was still attending school. In 1901 he was an agricultural labourer.
Henry married Alice Baker in 1906 (in Forehoe District). By the time the birth of their first child, Alice, was registered (second quarter of 197) they were living in Great Ellingham. On census day 1911, Henry, a farm labourer, Alice and their children Alice, Henry and John, lived on Hingham Road, Great Ellingham. The Electoral Roll records that they had 'land and tenement'.
A son, George, was born in 1913 and a daughter, May, in 1915.
Henry's enlistment date is unknown. His Medal Card shows that he did not go overseas until after December 1915. He served with the 11th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment in the 12th Division.
In 1917 they had been preparing for action in the Arras area since January. The Offensive began 9 April and the 12th Division was in action during the first four days then pulled back for a ten-day rest. Between 25 April-15 May 1917 the Division had 141 officer casualties and 3,380 other ranks. Private Leverett was one of 41 men of the 11th Middlesex recorded on the Army Roll as having died 12 May.
From the Regimental War Diary:
'On 11 May the Battalion was preparing to take over trenches 6 miles east of Arras. The relief commenced at 9.30pm and was completed by 2.30am 12 May with no casualties. At 7.30am one Officer and 2 other ranks were killed by enemy shellfire and 2 men were wounded. 'Companies laid low & rested all day'. At 6pm an attack was carried out, but failed to reach its objective, being held up by heavy enemy machine-gun and rifle fire. Due to lack of information there followed a period of confusion. A further push was made at 8pm, up to this point three officers had been killed and one wounded. Casualties among the ranks are not mentioned. At 9.45pm they attacked again and met with strong resistance as before. They had advanced to within 40 yards of their objective but had to withdraw. Other ranks total casualties for the day are recorded as 112, killed, wounded and missing.'
Private Leverett must have been one of the missing as it was a few weeks before he was accepted as dead.
The August 1917 Deanery Magazine reads: "We are sorry to say that Private H Leverett is now reported killed. Much sympathy with Mrs Leverett and all her littles ones".
Mrs Leverett had just become, or was about to become, a mother for the sixth time - the birth of a son, Walter, was registered in the third quarter of 1917.
Private Leverett has no known grave, he is remembered on the Arras Memorial which bears 34,776 names. He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals.
His widow remained in Great Ellingham for the rest of her life, probably in the same house on the Hingham Road.
In 1939, Alice Leverett born 28 January 1886, was a Poultry Farmer and Smallholder, address Hingham Road. Her sons, Henry, George and Walter, were also in the household and were Poultry Farmers. May was still there. Alice died 11 July 1958.
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.