LEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWI
Lance Serjeant Joseph James Lewis
9th Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps
Taken, Not Given, Liam Sumption, L&DLHS
L/Sgt
Joseph J Lewis
9th Kings Royal Rifles
Loos
Sept 25 1915
The full names of Lance Sgt Lewis were Joseph James. He was born in
Leatherhead and enlisted at Guildford. His K.R.R. number was 11679. (1)
His death is given as 29th September in the October 1915 issue of the
Parish magazine. (2)
Notes on sources
1. Soldiers who Died in the Great War (KRRC volume) - Imperial War Museum,
Lambeth.
2. Parish magazine St Mary and St Nicholas Leatherhead, issue of October
1915.
3. File W095–1900 War Diary 9th. Bn. K.R.R.C. - Public Record Office,
Richmond, Kew (not consulted).
Further research
Lance
Serjeant
LEWIS, JOSEPH JAMES
Service Number 11679
Died 25/09/1915
9th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps
Commemorated at YPRES
(MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Location: West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Cemetery/memorial reference: Panel 51 and 53.
He has no known grave. Born on Christmas Day 1896, he was
aged nearly 19 when he died.
He joined the 6th Battalion (Special Reserve), Kings
Royal Rifle Corps with service number 957. He applied to join the
Regular Army and attested on 13 July 1914 and was approved to join the
Kings Royal Rifle Corps on 20 July 1914 as a Rifleman with service
number 11679. He was promoted to Corporal on 20 January 1915 then
appointed as Acting Sergeant on 15 February 1915, then deprived of his
'Acting' Rank on 9 March 1915 due to misconduct. He was appointed Lance
Sergeant on 23 September 1915 and was killed in action two days later.
Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 16 October 1915
LEATHERHEAD & THE WAR
TWO BROTHERS IN ACTION.
ONE KILLED AND ONE WOUNDED
On Wednesday morning Mr. and Mrs.
Lewis, of Fairfield, Leatherhead, received official notification that
their eldest son, Lce-Sgt. Lewis, the King's Royal Rifles, who was
reported missing a short time since, was killed in action in France during
the advance of September 25th and 26th.
Lce-Sergt. Lewis was nineteen years age, and joined the special reserve in
February, 1914. Just before the war broke out he joined the King's Royal
Rifles, and did his training at Winchester, Blackdown and Sheerness. Being
a smart lad quickly got promotion, and was lance-sergeant when he went out
to the Front in July. He saw a good deal of fighting, and was mortally
wounded on September 25th during the advance made on that day.
Lce-Sergt. Lewis was a very
popular lad locally, his jovial manner making him a favourite with all
with whom he came in contact. He was always keen on being a soldier, and
learnt a great deal of drill in the local troop of Scouts and the Church
Lads' Brigade. He also qualified himself for ambulance work as a member of
the local company of the V.A.D. Much regret will be felt locally at the
early termination of such a promising career.
Pte William Lewis, the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, also took part in
the advance of September 25th, and was wounded in the trenches on
September 29th. Pte Lewis's most serious injuries were in the left hand,
and amputation of one of the fingers will be necessary. He was brought
back to England, and is now an inmate of the Red Cross Hospital at Taplow.
Pte William Lewis joined the 2nd Queen's in April of this year, and after
undergoing his training at Guildford and Chatham he went out to France on
August 17th.
Surrey Mirror
Friday 31 December 1915
ROLL OF HONOUR.
BRAVE SURREY MEN FALLEN IN THE WAR.
LEATHERHEAD AND DISTRICT.
Lce.-Sgt. Lewis, King's Royal
Rifles (killed action in France, Sept. 25th-26th). Eldest son of Mr. and
Mrs. Lewis, Fairfield, Leatherhead.
His life
Joseph Lewis was born on Christmas Day 1896 in Leatherhead, Surrey. He was
baptised on 28 February 1897 at Leatherhead Parish Church. When he
enlisted at Guildford on 7 February 1914 he gave his occupation as 'Casual
Labourer'.
His father was Thomas Annetts Lewis, born 1859 from Southampton,
Hampshire, a Coach Body Maker, a son of William Lewis and Rebecca Keen
Brown.
His mother was Martha Jane Forty, born 1869 from Biggleswade,
Bedfordshire. She was a daughter of William Forty, a Coachman, and Martha
Maltby.
They were married in the Parish Church of St Marylebone, Middlesex on 30
May 1886:
Thomas Annetts Lewis 27 Batchelor Carriage Body Maker: 31 East Street:
Father - William Lewis, Coach Painter
Martha Jane Forty 25 Spinster - : 73 Portland Place: Father - William
Forty, Coachman
His siblings were: Martha Jane b 1889, Mary Louise b 1890, Ellen Rose b
1892, Emily Edith b 1893, Thomas Henry b 1894, Amy Rebecca b 1895, William
Alfred b 1898 and Annie Catherine b 1901.
Joseph lived at:
1901 Census: Bennetts Cottages, Brick Row, Leatherhead, Surrey
1911 Census: Brickbat Row, Fairfield, Leatherhead, Surrey - aged 14,
Joseph was an Errand Boy for a ?Draper
After WW1
Thomas, Joseph's father, died on 25 April 1937. In a 1936 Electoral
Register he was at 1 Bennetts Cottages.
Martha, his mother, died a few moths later on 9 November 1937, and both
are buried in the churchyard of Leatherhead Parish Church.
Joseph Lewis is also remembered on these memorials
Leatherhead Town Memorial
Leatherhead RBL Roll of
Honour, Leatherhead Parish Church
Ladies War Shrine, Leatherhead Parish
Church
Church Lads Brigade Memorial
Tryptich, All Saints Leatherhead
Surrey
in the Great War
the website editor would like to add
further information on this casualty
e.g. a photo of him, and of any recollections within his family
last updated 3 Nov 20