Name
Ernest Leonard Morgan(*1)
1898
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
26/10/1917
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lance Corporal
40866
South Staffordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
TYNE COT MEMORIAL
Panel 90 to 92 & 162 to 162A
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Codicote Village Memorial, Peace Memorial Hall, Codicote, Not on the Welwyn memorials
Pre War
Ernest Leonard Morgan was born in Richmond, Surrey in 1898, the son of George and Annie Morgan and one of twelve children.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Albert Road, Richmond, Surrey, at which time his father was not listed as living at home. By the time of the 1911 Census he was living with his parents at 25 Crutched Friars, London, EC and was employed as a bricklayer by F Newton of Welwyn & Hitchin. He was a member of the Baptist Mission Hall cause and was living at Welwyn at the time of his enlistment.
Wartime Service
Ernest enlisted in Hitchin in February 1916 and joined the South Staffordshire Regiment as a Private. He went to France in September 1917. At some point he was promoted to Lance Corporal.
He died on 26 October 1917 aged 20. Records vary as to cause of death, whether killed in action or died of wounds, but he has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.
The Hertfordshire Express reported on 9 March 1918 that Ernest's parents had received news from the Infantry Record Office that he was "killed in action, or died of wounds, on or since October 26, 1917" .
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £3 and pay owing of £4 2s 5d. Father was born in Codicote and later lived at Hilltop Villa, Codicote. Brother to Frederick Morgan also named on the memorial and George Henry Morgan who both emigrated to Canada and served with Canadian forces. Their sister, Florence Ellen, was a nurse at the 2nd General Hospital in Le Havre after having been up the line at a dressing station for a considerable period. *1 He is listed as L Morgan on the Memorials.
Acknowledgments
Derry Warners, Brenda Palmer
Brenda Palmer, June Colegrove, Roll-of-Honour.com
