Mother and her boys

 

At 11 am on the 11^th Day of the 11^th month the guns fell silent and the fighting was over. The war to end all wars, The Great War, was over. Every year, people gather at war memorials, grave sites, battlefields, in churches and places of worship to fall silent for 2 minutes to remember all those killed in all conflicts.

 Probably every family historian will have a family member who served, fought or died in the First World War, certainly in the UK. Cities, towns and villages lost a generation on the blood soaked battlefields of the Western Front but also across the world in what was the first truly global war, fought on an industrial scale with all the new technology of a industrial world.

 Over the next few weeks I am going to try and tell the stories of just a few of these brave men who fought and died for their country.

 I start with the story of two brothers, born into a colonial, middle class Victorian family who died within 17 days of each other in August 1918 during the final big offensives of the war, the final ‘Big Push.’

 Arthur Frederick Lakeman was born on 22^nd August 1886, in Reading, Berkshire, the first son of Frederick Sanders Lakeman and his wife, Amy. Fred and Amy had spent most of their lives living the colonial life in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Fred was born in Ceylon and returned there in adulthood. Amy’s father had been the manager of a hotel in the port of Galle.

 Harold Leslie Lakeman was born in Ceylon on 28^th December 1888.

 Fred and Amy returned to live in Scotland and the family settled in the town of Lenzie, just outside Glasgow. There were three sons and five daughters by 1912.

 Arthur and Harold were educated at Lenzie Academy and Arthur was employed as a banker in Glasgow. Harold became a chartered accountant and by the time war broke out, he was living in Highbury, in North London.

 In 1915, both enlisted as privates, Arthur joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and was later transferred to the 7^th Battalion The Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) and Harold joined the 2/28^th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment (Artists Rifles).

 

2nd Lieutenant Arthur Frederick Lakeman

 

Arthur’s service record suggests that he probably first saw action during the attack on High Wood on 30^th July 1916.

 In January 1918, Arthur transferred as a 2^nd Lieutenant to the 15^th Battalion Tank Corps, part of the 5^th Tank Brigade. On 5^th August 1918, the battalion were moving their tanks up to the front line. According to the battalion war diary, Arthur was leading the tank on foot when he tripped on some barbed wire and was crushed. Arthur is buried in St Pierre’s Cemetery, Amiens.

 

 

 Harold gained a commission in the Army Service Corps, probably using his administrative and accountancy skills to good effect. He was wounded and wanting a return to the front line, he attended Infantry School and in March 1918 he joined the 7^th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers.

 

2^nd Lieutenant Harold Leslie Lakeman

 On 22^nd August 1918 the battalion was fighting outside the village of Puisieux-au-Mont on the Somme. Harold was killed by a sniper during a German counter attack and was initially buried on the battlefield. Following the Armistice his body was removed and re-interred in Queens Cemetery, Bucquoy.

There is one photograph which sums up the tragedy of the Lakeman story. It is July 1918, in a small Perthshire market town and two sons enjoy their last leave with their family before returning to the front, simply described in their sister's photo album as:

 Mother and her boys