Corporal Herbert Lawson

Born in Battersea c1887, Herbert was the third son of William Walter Lawson, a ‘commercial accountant’, and Ellen Mary Lawson. In 1911, he was single and still living at home in Meadow View, Cavendish Road, Mitcham. He worked as a stockbroker’s clerk. His brothers Richard (27), Edward (25), Edward (19) and his sister Ellen (27) were also still living at home.

On 19th October 1912 , at the age of 25, Herbert married Lilian Sophia Hamilton (born 1889) at Christ Church, Mitcham. Lilian’s father was a labourer living in South Wimbledon. At the time of Herbert’s marriage his father was listed as an ‘entertainer’.

Herbert enlisted in the 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment. It’s not known exactly when he enlisted but the battalion was formed at Kingston-upon-Thames in September 1914 as part of K3 and came under orders of 72nd Brigade in 24th Division. It moved initially to billets in Worthing but by April 1915 was at Shoreham. It then moved to Blackdown (Aldershot) in June 1915.
Herbert was in the battalion when it landed at Boulogne on 1 September 1915. Initially a L/Sergeant, he was subsequently promoted to Corporal. He was killed in ‘France and Flanders’ less than one month later. The British Army Medal roll index card records him as presumed dead on 26th September, 1915. The register of effects says he died ‘on or around 26th September since death presumed’. He was 28 Years old.

The war diary for the 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment records the events of 26th September when the battalion launched an attack on the enemy’s position between HULLOCH and CITE ST AUGUSTE:

“The attack was launched at 11 a.m. & was carried right up to the enemy's trenches but the wire not being cut it was impossible to get through the enemy's lines although several fruitless attempts were made. The casualties were very heavy at this point chiefly owing to some machine guns which formed a heavy cross fire on our men. The order was then given for the Bde. to retire to the line of trenches from which it had advanced in the morning. This retirement was carried out in orderly manner under heavy shell fire of all kinds & the trenches were lined & manned. The enemy continued to shell very heavily until about 5 pm in the afternoon & many of the slightly wounded were wounded again or killed. About 11 pm on the night of the 26th the Guards Division relieved the24th DIV. The relief was completed soon after 1 am”

The casualties on that day numbered 14 Officers & 438 other ranks. The diary only lists the names of the 14 officers who lost their lives. Corporal Lawson would presumably have been amongst those from the ‘other ranks’ who were also killed.

Corporal Lawson is buried in the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery (Grave no 6, Row E, Plot 11) Situated between two war cemeteries, one French and the other German, Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery lies south of the town of Souchez in France. The cemetery contains more than 7,650 burials of servicemen of the British Empire in the First World War. Cabaret Rouge was a small café, its brick building with red tiles was distinctive in the village where most of the houses were thatched. It stood less than a mile south of Souchez and was destroyed by heavy shelling in May 1915.

Corporal Lawson is also remembered at Christ Church, Mitcham, where he and Lilian were married just over three years earlier.