Ernest Henry Linge married but only a few years with two daughters had to go to war. Forced to enlist he was sadly killed during 1915 leaving Dora aged 2 years and Ivy even younger. The story told by Dora was... He was wounded in action, taken to a field ambulance and later received a fatal wound when the ambulance was hit. Ernest enlisted at Warley and entered France on 12th January 1915. Three weeks later he was dead, dying from wounds on 29th January 1915 while serving as Private 3/860 in the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment. He is buried at Strand Military Cemetery, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium, some eight miles south of Ypres near the village of Ploegsteert (grave: X. I. 6). He left a widow and two daughters under the age of three. Ernest’s grave is one of many in the cemetery made after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from some small cemeteries and from the battlefields lying mainly between Wytschaete and Armentieres. Ernest was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal. The Essex County Chronicle of 19th February 1915 carried the following report of his death: “Springfield Man Killed - News has been received that Pt. E. Linge, of the 3rd [stet] Essex Regt., was killed in action in France on Jan 29. The deceased soldier’s home was at Pump Lane, Springfield, and he leaves a wife and two children. Pt. E. Linge was brother of Pt. A. Linge, of the Essex Regt., who died of wounds received in action about two months ago.” Ernest is commemorated on the Civic Centre Memorial, Chelmsford and on the Springfield Parish Memorial at All Saints’ Church. Ernest’s daughter Dora, later married Thomas Walter E. Nelson (1909-1979), lived to be 86, dying in Halstead in June 1998. His other daughter Ivy married Edward J. Brown in 1935. Ernest’s father died in 1922, aged 70. Ernest’s brother-in-law Edward George Harvey was killed on 5th May 1917 while serving with the Essex Regiment and is also commemorated on the Civic Centre Memorial, Chelmsford and on the Springfield Parish Memorial at All Saints’ Church. Ernest’s wife therefore lost her brother, husband and brother-in-law in the war. Rank: Private Service No: 3/860 Date of Death: 29/01/1915 Regiment/Service: Essex Regiment 2nd Bn. Grave Reference X. I. 6. Cemetery STRAND MILITARY CEMETERY Country: Belgium Locality: Hainaut

Rebecca Boyles