Private, 5886535, Leonard McDonald MORRIS 5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died, 30th July 1943
Leonard McDonald Morris was born in Raunds on the 30th April 1915, the son of Beatrice Morris. He married Margaret Bird on the 13th August 1936 and they lived with their children in Villa Lane, Stanwick.
Before joining the military he was employed at Eaton’s of Rushden as a clicker and in his spare time he was a keen motorcyclist, at one time owning an Ariel Square 4.
Twenty-eight year old Leonard Morris has no known grave but is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial, Italy, panel 9. He is also remembered on the Stanwick War Memorial and Church Roll of Honour.
Private, 5880539, Robert PARKINSON 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died, 30th April 1944
Robert Parkinson was born in the winter of 1909, the second son of Thomas and Ida Parkinson. Married to Mary, they lived with their children in Midland Road.
Before the war he worked for Keunen Brothers of Irthlingborough and was a keen billiards player, being a member of the Raunds Woodbine Club. He also enjoyed membership of the Ancient Order of Foresters.
Thirty four year old Private Parkinson has no known grave but is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial, Italy, panel 9.
He is also remembered on his wife’s headstone in Raunds Cemetery, the grave is next to that of their son Bernard, who died while on National Service in 1956.
Driver, T/14880775, Brian Thomas PARTRICK Royal Army Service Corps Died, 25th September 1946
Brian Thomas Partrick was the last of the Raunds men killed during World War Two who is named on the Town War Memorial. He was born in the winter of 1926, the only son of Frederick and Ethel Partrick of Thorpe Street.
He was educated at Raunds C of E School and Kimbolton School and before joining up worked for his father in the family stone masonry business (his father was the stone mason for the Raunds War Memorial when it was erected in 1921). He was also a member of the Junior Royal Observer Corps and a corporal in the Raunds Flight of the ATC, where he gained his proficiency badges for both engineering and aircrew.
Brian Partrick is buried in Hong Kong Cemetery, grave reference Sec.17A 10322. He is also remembered on a family headstone in Raunds Cemetery.
Private, 5888406, Harold Thomas PENTELOW 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died of Wounds, 6th August 1943
Harold Thomas Pentelow was born in the autumn of 1916, the son of Ernest and Martha Pentelow of Hill Street.
His war began when he left his wife Grace to join the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.
Private Pentelow is buried in Catania War Cemetery, Sicily, grave reference I.E.33. He is also remembered on a family headstone in Raunds Cemetery and a plaque in the Memorial Gardens records the contribution by his relatives towards the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new gardens in his memory.
Private, 5890788, Thomas Line PHILLIPS 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died, 11th July 1943
Although he was born in the town on the 15th October 1906, the son of Charles and Hagar Phillips of Chelveston Road, Thomas Line Phillips is not named on the Raunds War Memorial.
He lived in West Street, Stanwick with his wife Amy and their son and, before the war, worked as a milkman for the Raunds Distributive Co-Operative Society. A noted local bird fancier, he was very fond of canaries.
Thirty six year old Thomas Phillips is buried in Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily, grave reference IV.H.13. He is also remembered on a family headstone in Raunds Cemetery and on both the Stanwick War Memorial and Church Roll of Honour.
Private, 5891856, Charles Henry PRENTICE 5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Died, 5th April 1943
Charles Henry Prentice was born in Raunds on the 18th January 1923, the only son of Charles and Florence Prentice of Cartrill Street. He was the nephew of WW1 victim Richard “Dick” Cobleyand although known as “Sonny” by his mother and “Henry” by his father, his friends called him “Andy”.
He was educated at Raunds C of E School and prior to military service worked for R Coggins & Sons, boot manufacturers. A keen photographer, he also worked as part time projectionist at the local Tivoli Cinema.
Private Prentice is buried in Medjez-El-Bab Cemetery, Tunisia, grave reference 2.B.18, lying close to fellow Raunds victim Harry Rice (see below) and the Memorial to Arthur Abbott.
His relatives also remembered him by contributing to the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new Raunds Memorial Gardens. A plaque in the gardens still records this act.
Fusilier, 6985807, Harry RICE 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers Died, 7th April 1943
Harry Rice, the nephew of his WW1 namesake, was born in Raunds on the 21st May 1920, the son of Bert and Olive Rice of Chelveston Road.
He was educated at Raunds Council School and prior to joining the Forces worked as a clicker for Adams Brothers. An enthusiastic musician, he played in the Raunds Temperance Band for ten years.
Fusilier Rice is buried in Medjez-El-Bab Cemetery, Tunisia, grave reference 1.A.20. He is also remembered on the same family grave in Raunds Cemetery as his uncle and on the Roll of Honour in Stanwick’s Church of St. Lawrence. His memory is also preserved on a plaque in Raunds Memorial Gardens which records the contribution of his relatives in 1950 towards the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new gardens.
Private, 7691049, Arthur Ernest RICHARDSON 5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry Died, 11th July 1944
Arthur Ernest Richardson, the son of Albert and Rhoda Richardson of Park Avenue, was born in Raunds on the 14th April 1907. He was educated at the Raunds Council School and in early 1942 he married Dorothy Fairey of Irthlingborough. “Artleknock” also provided his employment as he worked for Sudborough Brothers in the town.
He is buried in St Manvieu War Cemetery, France, grave reference XIV.E.4 and is also remembered on a family grave in Raunds Wesleyan Chapelyard and on a plaque in the Memorial Gardens which records the contribution by his relatives towards the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new gardens.
Sapper, 2132154, Reginald Alfred SAUNDERS 945 (IWT) Operating Coy, Royal Engineers Killed in Action, 17th June 1943
Reginald Alfred Saunders was born in Park Road during the winter of 1913.
In 1935 he married Doris Ypres Blake and they lived with their daughter in Harcourt Street. Prior to joining up Reginald was a partner in the firm of Saunders and Clarke, “portable builders”, of Irthlingborough and is his leisure time was a member of the Raunds Cycling Club.
He has no known grave so is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, England, panel 7, column 1.
Sergeant, 1578397, Jack SHEFFIELD 467 (RAAF) Squadron, Royal Air Force Killed in Action, 25th June 1944
Jack Sheffield was one of eight Raunds men in the Royal Air Force to be killed during World War 2. He was born in the town on the 8th March 1914, the son of Mrs H Lawrence and stepson of Mr H Lawrence.
Like many of his contemporaries, he worked in the boot and shoe trade as a clicker and office worker at Adams Brothers.
30 year old Sergeant Sheffield is buried with four of his comrades in Mareuil-Caubert (Mareuil) Communal Cemetery, France, grave reference plot 2, row D, grave 4.
Sergeant, 633130, John TANSLEY 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force Killed in Action, 20th July 1940
John Tansley was born in Raunds in July 1921. He was educated at Kimbolton School and was a member of the Baptist Chapel Bible Class. In his spare time before joining the Royal Air Force he was an assistant projectionist at a cinema in Kettering.
In early 1939, when still only 17, he joined the RAF and soon secured his air gunner’s and wireless certificates. Indeed it is said that having attained the rank of sergeant at such an early age, he showed considerable promise.
Initially, Sergeant Tansley and three of his comrades were buried in a collective grave at Ibbenburen but they were subsequently identified and re-interred in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany, in a joint grave, reference 17.A.2-3. He is also remembered on the Kimbolton School WW2 Roll of Honour located in the castle chapel.
Gunner, 6017402, Edward William TURNER 64th Searchlight, (1/6th) Battalion, Essex Regiment Died, 21st October 1944
Edward William Turner is not named on the Raunds War Memorial but is included in this tribute as he was married to a Raunds girl and is remembered on her headstone in Raunds Cemetery.
He was born in Essex in 1919, the son of Edward and May Turner. He married Edna Harrison of Rotton Row on the 12th February 1944 and together they had a daughter, Carol, who sadly he never saw as she was born seven months after his death. Prior to the war he worked as a baker.
Edward Turner is buried in Chingford Mount Cemetery, grave reference Sec.D.5 grave 43787 and is also remembered on his wife’s headstone in Raunds Cemetery.
Guardsman, 2623690, Derrick Richard Albert WALKER 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards Died, 28th September 1944
Derrick Richard Albert Walker, the son of Richard and Elsie Walker of Park Road, was born in the summer of 1924.
He was educated at Raunds Council School and was a member of the 1st Raunds Boy’s Brigade Company. He worked on the Raunds Distributive Co-Operative Society farm and before joining up was first a member of the town’s Home Guard platoon, before leaving them to become an ARP messenger.
Twenty year old Guardsman Walker is buried in Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Netherlands, grave reference 22.C.8. He is also remembered on a family headstone in Raunds Cemetery and on a plaque in the Memorial Gardens which records the contribution of his relatives in his memory towards the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new gardens.
Sergeant, 1866222, Leonard Keith WEBB 106 Squadron, Royal Air Force Killed in Action, 28th June 1944
Leonard Keith Webb was another young Raunds man who answered the call of his King and Country and paid the ultimate price. He was born in December 1924, the only son of Herbert and Alice Webb of Park Road and when he died he left a fiancée of less than a month, Miss King of Rushden.
Educated at Kimbolton School, he was well known locally as a member of “The Spiders” dance band who provided the music for many a shindig in and about Raunds during the early 1940’s. Fellow band member Frederick Baileyalso perished during the global conflict.
Keith Webb is buried in a collective grave in Bransles Communal Cemetery, France, and is also remembered on the Kimbolton School WW2 Roll of Honour in the castle chapel. In his memory, his relatives also contributed to the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new Memorial Gardens in Raunds in 1950.
Private, 5888771, Harold Basil WHEATLEY 5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment Killed in Action, 15th October 1944
Harold Basil Wheatley was born in 1915, the only child of Samuel, “a well-known local concert artiste”, and Winifred Wheatley of Irchester Road, Rushden.
He was educated at Higham Ferrers School and in 1939 married a Raunds girl, Verena Cooper, a niece of WW1 casualty Ernest Stringer MM, setting up home in Midland Road. Before joining the colours he was employed in the boot and shoe trade by John White of Higham Ferrers.
Harold Wheatley is buried in Faenza War Cemetery, Italy, grave reference VII.F.16. He is also remembered on the Rushden War Memorial and on a plaque in the Raunds Memorial Gardens which records the contribution by his relatives to the purchase of trees and shrubs for the new gardens in 1950.
Sergeant, 952913, Leonard Alwyn YORK 217 Squadron, Royal Air Force Killed in Action, 3rd July 1942
Leonard Alwyn York was born in Raunds in 1920, the youngest of the four sons of Frank and Mary York of Park Avenue, the couple also having four daughters. He was educated at Raunds Council School and prior to the war worked as a laster for the St. Crispin Productive Society. At the time of his death he was engaged to Miss B Sawford of Ringstead.
Twenty two year old Leonard York has no known grave but is commemorated on the Malta Memorial, panel 4, column 2. His relatives also honoured his memory by contributing to the purchase of trees and shrubs in the newly opened Raunds Memorial Gardens in 1950. A gesture still recorded on a plaque in the gardens.
