WILLIAM ROBERT MORTIMER
Born: 17th January 1886, Ipswich.
Baptised on the 11th September 1887, at St. Michael’s Church, Ipswich – family home at 16, Beck Street, Ipswich.
Died: 12th March 1915; age 29; KiA near Neuve Chapelle.
Suffolk Chronicle and Mercury – Friday, 2nd April 1915 – Mrs. Ethel Mortimer, of 23, Trinity Street, Ipswich, has received from Corporal A. R. Smyth, of C Company, 4th Battalion, a letter offering deep sympathy on the death of her husband, the writer adding: “I was corporal of the section your husband was attached to, and always found him a cheerful willing worker, trustworthy, and a good solider. His death was instantaneous and painless. I was next to him when he was hit, and was wounded shortly afterwards.” Corporal Smyth is in a hospital near Leeds.
Residence: 23, Trinity Street, Ipswich.
Enlistment Location: Ipswich.
Date of Entry Therein: 8th November 1914.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 2305
Regiment Location: Suffolk Regiment, 4th Battalion, C Company.
Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1914 Star.
In 1920, the body was discovered, exhumed, and identified by a Cross on the grave before reburial among many unknown/unnamed soldiers at Guards Cemetery.
Also found at the same map reference were the bodies of John Edmund Podd, 106 (identified by clothing and numerals), James Robert Liffen 73, and Arthur Reginald Jacobs, 2368 (both bodies identified by an erected Cross), all Ipswich men.
Grave Reference:
VIII.E.46.
Windy Corner,
Cuinchy,
Pas de Calais,
France.
Brother-in-law and next-door neighbour to STEPHEN WEBB.
CENSUS
1891 30, Beck Street, Ipswich.
William was 5 years old and living with his parents & siblings.
William Mortimer, 31, a Shoemaker, born Tuddenham, Suffolk.
Eliza Mortimer (nee Stopher), 31, born Ipswich.
Lily Caroline Mortimer, 3, born Ipswich.
George Alfred Mortimer, 1, born Ipswich.
1901 30, Beck Street, Ipswich.
William was 15 years old and living with his parents & siblings.
William, 42, a Warehouseman – Boot Factory.
Eliza, 42.
Lily, 13.
George, 11.
Laura Edith Mortimer, 10, born Ipswich.
Arthur Ernest Mortimer, 7, born Ipswich.
Herbert Robert Mortimer, 4, born Ipswich.
Elsie May Mortimer, 2, born Ipswich.
1911 23, Trinity Street, Ipswich.
William was 25 years old, a Labourer for an almond manufacturer. He was married & Head of the Household.
Ethel, 25.
Stephen, 2.
On the 18th April 1908, at Holy Trinity Church, Ipswich, 22 year old William, a warehouseman, of 18, Albion Street, Ipswich, married 22 year old Ethel Rose Webb, a boxmaker, born 1885, Ipswich, of 28, Unity Street, Ipswich – daughter of Henry Webb, a quay stevedore, and Susan Webb (nee Hare), of 31, Devonshire Road, Ipswich.
Ethel and William had one son:
Stephen William Mortimer, born March 1909, Ipswich.
Soldiers’ Effects to Ethel Rose Mortimer – widow.
William is also remembered on the war memorial at Holy Trinity Church, Ipswich.
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10th – 13th March 1915, was the first planned British offensive of the war. The objective was to take the German line at the Village of Neuve Chapelle and break out and head towards the City of Lille, with the main objective taking the Aubers Ridge, beyond which was of strategic value. The Battle started well with a heavy bombardment of the German line (more shells fired on this occasion than the entire Boer War) with an advance which successfully took most of the first and second line trenches, but due to poor communications stalled once the village had been taken. The Germans then had time to set up more defensive lines outside the village and hold the British advance. 40,000 British and Indian troops took part in the Battle, with over 10,000+ Casualties.
The 4th Battalion, the Suffolk Regiment, entered the battle on the 11th of March, taking up positions on the outskirts of the Neuve Chapelle facing the Bois Du Biez, which were later ordered to occupy. The 4th Battalion lost many men through shelling on their positions, followed by a counterattack on the 12th by the Germans. In total, the Battalion sustained 217 casualties.
Suffolk Regiment, 4th Battalion:
Suffolk Regiment Battalion movements
SUFFOLK REGIMENT MUSEUM
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