Frederick Lamboll 1889-1917
Frederick Lamboll was born in the village of Thursley in
Surrey in the summer of 1889. His parents. Thomas Lamboll from Haslemere and
Alice Hilsdon. were married in Alice’s home parish of St Clement Oxford on 21
Feb 1881.
The couple settled in the village of Thursley where Thomas worked
first as a gardener then as a coachman.
Their first child Frank was born at the end of 1881 followed by Edith in
1884, Ada in 1887, Frederick in 1889, Alice in 1892 and Albert in 1896. Edith
died aged 3 in 1888.
Between 1896 and 1901 the family moved to Merriott near
Yeovil in Somerset where Thomas foun work as a coachman at Marks Barn House the
home of John Watson, a City of London Wine Merchant.
Both Frank and Frederick joined the army and from Frederick’s
army record we know that he joined the 2nd Battalion of the Warwickshire
Regiment. The 2nd Battalion were stationed in Malta from 1912 until
they were called back to England in August 1914. They joined the 22nd
Brigade in 7th Division and were sent to Belgium in October 1914.
The battalion was present on the Western Front from the
battle of Ypres in 1914 through all the action up to the beginning of 1917. Following
a winter of stalemate on the front, 1917 brought a change in fortune for the
allies. Determined campaigns saw huge progress made in France and Belgium with
ground and villages being retaken and the Germans pushed back on a daily basis.
The Battle of Arras which had begun in early April continued
with thousands of allied troops deployed along the line. On May 3rd,
the 7th division were involved in the Second Battle of Bullecourt.
Bullecourt was strategic village on the Hindenburg line which had been in German
hands since 1914. Behind it were two more villages Hendecourt and Riencourt,
all of which were to be recaptured. It
had first been targeted by the allies in April but the attack had failed, for
many reasons, one of which was that the plan had included tanks which did not
arrive at the front line in time.
The Second Battle of Bullecourt was fought by six British and
Australian Divisions and was of mixed success. The first push came before dawn
on May 3rd. Some small groups of men got through the enemy lines,
while many were forced back. The 2nd Royal Warwickshire’s, along
with other battalions were detailed to join the battle overnight but at 4am, as
they were lining up ready to advance, they were hit by a huge German
bombardment. Although many were killed, the remaining men regrouped and
continued the attack. By late evening
they were forced to retreat, having sustained many casualties. More than 300
men from the 2nd Warwickshire’s died that day, including Frederick
Lamboll. His body was not recovered and he is remembered on the Arras Memorial.
Frederick’s family moved from Somerset to Oxfordshire
sometime between 1911 and 1915. His sister Ada married there in 1915 and
settled in Oxford where she had two children. Alice never married and lived in
Didcot working as a dressmaker. Albert married, had a son and became a postman
in Abingdon. Frederick’s older brother Frank was killed in Germany in 1918. His
parents both died in Abingdon, Thomas in 1925 and Alice in 1939.
In Memory of
Private FREDERICK
JOHN LAMBOLL
18702, 2nd Bn., Royal
Warwickshire Regiment
who died age 26
on 04 May 1917
Son of Mrs Alice
Elizabeth Lamboll, of Long Wittenham, Abingdon, Berks.
Remembered with
honour
ARRAS MEMORIAL
Photo taken by Bob Price on a visit to Arras in 2014
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