Private Leonard Douglas Reed
| Date of Birth | 1886 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 31 |
| Date of Death | 8 May 1917 |
| Service Number | 21921 |
| Military Service | 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment |
| Merton Address | 3 New Cottages, Lower Morden |
| Local Memorial | St. Lawrence Church, Morden |
Additional Information
Leonard Douglas Reed was born in Kilburn, Middlesex in 1886. By 1891 he was living with his parents, Leolin and Jane, at 212 Abyssinia Road in Battersea. His father was a milkman and he had two younger sisters. Ten years later, at the age of 14, he had moved with his parents, four younger sisters and a cousin to 158 Lower Malden. His father was now a gardener and Leonard was working as a ‘house boy’.
On 29 October 1910 Leonard married Helen Bishop and by the time of the next census in 1911 the couple were living at 3 New Cottages, Lower Morden with Helen’s brother John Bishop. Leonard was working as a cemetery attendant for the Metropolitan Borough Council.
During the First World War Leonard served as a private in the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. His service number was 21921. The 1st Battalion was in action on the Western Front throughout most of the war. Few details of Private Reed’s service have been found. Records show that he died on 8 May 1917 and is remembered with honour on the Arras Memorial, Bay 6, at the Faubourg-D’Amiens British Cemetery in the Pas-de-Calais. This memorial commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the UK, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector on the Western Front between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918 who have no known grave.
Leonard's name also appears on one of the panels in the Lychgate at St. Lawrence Church, Morden, which serves as the parish war memorial and also on a brass plate in the Assembly Hall of Morden Primary School.
At the time of his death his parents were living at Bishop's Cottages, Morden, Mitcham, Surrey. His wife Helen had moved to 35, Tharp Rd., Wallington, Surrey.