Name
Lewis Plummer
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
20/09/1914
27
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Guardsman
12443
Grenadier Guards
2nd Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star (with Clasp & Roses), British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GUARDS GRAVE, VILLERS COTTERETS FOREST
I. 7.
France
Headstone Inscription
REST IN THE LORD
UK & Other Memorials
Abbots Langley Village Memorial, St. Lawrence Church Memorial, Abbots Langley, Leavesden Asylum/Hospital War Memorial, Leavesden
Biography
Lewis Plummer was the first person from Abbots Langley to be reported killed in the Great War. He was killed in action on 20th September 1914, aged 27, during the Battle of the Aisne, in the front line near to the village of Soupir.
Lewis was born 1887 (baptised 13 Feb 1887) in Chatham, Kent the youngest of ten children of James Plummer, a publican and retired Royal Marine, and Harriet (nee Nunn). In 1901 he was recorded as working as a Telegraph Boy, but by 1911 had enlisted as a Private Soldier stationed at Vauxhall Bridge Barracks in London. In the summer of 1914 he married Constance Stock in Watford, and this may have been his link to the local area. His marriage coincided with the birth of a son – Lewis F – who was christened on 4th October 1914 – two weeks after his Father’s death.
Lewis was a regular soldier, Guardsman 12443. 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards and one of the first to be sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on 13th August 1914. Throughout late August and into September the Grenadier Guards retreated with the BEF from Mons towards Paris, with the advancing German Army in pursuit. Throughout the retreat the Guards fought many rear-guard actions, and played their part in halting the German advance at the Battle of the Marne, and in chasing the invaders back to the River Aisne. On 14th September, as part of a general advance the Grenadier Guards crossed the Aisne, under heavy fire suffering over 150 dead, wounded and missing. The battalion entrenched and near the village of Soupir and for the next few days was heavily shelled. Lewis Plummer was killed in action during this period on 20th September 1914.
The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine recorded “Lewis Plummer, of the Grenadier Guards, has been reported as killed in action in France - place and date unknown. We commend to God's mercy both them and their dear ones left behind”.
Additional Information
War Gratuity of £5 and Arrears of £2 6s 11d was paid to his Widow.
Acknowledgments
Neil Cooper
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
