Name
Frank Evelyn Leete
1891
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/12/1917
25
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles)
9th (County of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
HITCHIN CEMETERY
E. L XXIV. B.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, Holy Saviour Church War Memorial, Radcliffe Rd., Hitchin, Stained Glass Window, Hitchin Boys Grammar School, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour (Book), Hitchin, Liberty And Co Staff WW1, Soho Greater London
Pre War
Frank was born in 1891 in Hitchin and christened on 26 April 1891 in Holy Saviour Church, Hitchin. His parents were Ernest Masters and Mary Leete.
In 1891 the family were living at 57 Walsworth Road, Hitchin which remained the family home in all the following census. Present were both parents: Ernest (37) and Mary (36), with Ernest working as an outfitter and clothier and an employer. Their children were: Ida Mary (9), Ernest Steward Sandon (5), Claude H (3), Reginald H (2), Leslie B (1) and Frank Evelyn at 1 month. Also present were two servants Susan Underwood (21) and Harriet L (16)
In 1901, both parents were present and Ernest still working as a clothier, outfitter and employer. Of the children listed above Ernest was not present and those remaining had been joined by Arthur D (possibly Dudley, age 7), Stanley Herbert (6), Francis Bertram (4). One servant was now present Katie Woodward (15)
Frank probably started at the Hitchin Grammar School circa 1902. He left in the Summer of 1905 by which time he was in the Lower 5th Form. In December 1903 he passed his grade 1 piano examination.
On leaving Hitchin Grammar School, he took up an important position with Liberty's of London, in whose service he spent some time in France.
By 1911 the family circumstances and address had not changed. Frank’s parents were recorded as being married for 30 years with 11 children, of whom 2 had died. The only children now present were Ida, Ernest, Stanley and Francis and they still had one servant Hilda Upchurch (18). Frank was not there and has yet to found in the census but was probably in London or France working for Liberty's of London.
Wartime Service
When he joined the army he served as a Private with the Regimental Number 3038 in the Queen Victoria Rifles in France having arrived there on the 9th May 1915 and he was wounded for the first time in 1916 suffering shell wounds to his back and thigh.
He was reported that, as a rifleman, he was on leave from the Front in February 1916, the paper reported “Rifleman Leete pays eloquent tribute to the spirit of camaraderie existing between the soldiers at the front, and says that, generally speaking, they know less about the war than the people at home. There are, he adds, many humorous incidents to relieve the strain of the soldier’s life, not the least amongst these being the bath parades.”
On his recovery, he accepted a commission into the London Regiment of the Q.V.R., which was the l/9th London Regiment, Territorial Force of the 169th Brigade, 56th Division.
For several days starting on the 26th November 1917, the 56th Division of London Territorials were engaged in heavy fighting around Moeuvres and Tadpole Copse about seven miles west of Cambrai.
He received a severe head wound to the back of his head, when a bullet pierced his helmet, while giving instruction to his men in the 9th London Regiment, from the parapet. He managed to write a note to his parents and was returned to England. Members of the family were able to visit frequently. He was operated on in a private hospital in London by a London Specialist and there were high hopes for his recovery. However, he failed to respond, his family visited on the Sunday, but he died early on the following day.
His body was brought from London by train, and he was given a military funeral in Holy Saviour Church. His escort included 40 unarmed men, a firing party of 12 under C.S.M. Dorling, a trumpeter and there were six Signals officers as bearers. His coffin was borne on a gun-carriage with three pairs of mules. He was buried in Hitchin Cemetery in Grave E.LXX.14.
One of his touching inscriptions read:
When on the field of battle
He calmly took his place,
He fought and died for Britain
And the honour of his race.
Additional Information
It was reported that he had served in France, Salonica, Egypt, Palestine and Italy, but this seems unlikely as he was recorded in France when he was an Other Rank and 1/9th Battalion London Regiment served in France and Belgium and the 2/9th the same.
After his death £38 12s 6d was authorised to be paid on 29 January 1918, then £29 5s 0d on 13 March 1918, then another 10s 4d and finally a war gratuity of £16 10s 0d on 7 October 1919.
It was reported that, including Stanley Herbert Leete, who was killed, he had four brothers serving.
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Jonty Wild
