Pte Leonard Marshall

• Age: 30
• From: Runcorn, Cheshire
• Regiment: 1st Kings
• Died on Saturday 11th August 1917
• Commemorated at: Gorre British & Indian
  Panel Ref: IV.E.5

Leonard Marshall was born in Runcorn, Cheshire, on the 03rd January 1887 to Edwin Marshall and his wife Mary (nee Kent). His parents married in 1877 in Runcorn. He had a twin brother, Percy.

Leonard enlisted in Liverpool joining the 18th Battalion as Private 25781. There is differing information as to which Battalion Leonard was serving with when he was killed in action, aged 30, on 11th August 1917. SDGW shows 1st Battalion but CWGC shows 18th Battalion. I have checked the 18th Battalion diary and it does not record any deaths on 11th August 1917. I am therefore satisified that Leonard was with the 1st Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment when he was killed. According to his Medal Card, Leonard went to France on 7 Nov 1915.

"There is differing information as to which Battalion Leonard was serving with"

Everard Wyrall's book has him listed under the 1st Battalion

Reading the 18th Btn diary for August 1917 surprisingly Major Clayton has been recording the casualties, including OR's by name.

On the 11th August mentioned in the paper the Btn were on the march to Mont Vidaigne area and encamped.

Whereas 1st Btn Diary states end of July they were in Gorre/Givenchy area, with active trench warfare (Pte Marshall is buried at Gorre)

Start of August diary lists the operation make up of Officers and units including Medium Trench Mortar Battery and the 6th T.M.B.

It would appear Pte Marshall was with 1st Kings now.   

The Runcorn Guardian reported on 24 August that Leonard (“elder son”) met his death as the result of the explosion of a shell which fell close.

Leonard now rests at Gorre British and Indian Cemetery.

The chateau at Gorre was occupied early in the war by troops serving with the British Expeditionary Force and the Indian Corps, and the cemeteries, located in the south-east corner of original the chateau grounds, were begun in the autumn of 1914. The Indian section of the cemetery was closed in October 1915, shortly before the Indian infantry divisions left France for redeployment to the Middle East.

Many of those who now lie in plots V and VI of the British section of the cemetery were killed during the Battle of Estaires in April 1918. There are now over 930 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated here. The cemetery, which was designed by Charles Holden, also contains nine war graves of other nationalities, most of them German.

Gorre Chateau during the First World War.

For much of the war, the chateau stood approximately four kilometres behind a section of the British front-line that ran northward along the Aubers Ridge from Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée to Festubert. From the end of the Battle of Festubert in May 1915 until the spring of 1918, this was considered a relatively ‘quiet’ sector. The village of Gorre was occasionally bombarded by German artillery during this period, but the chateau remained intact and its rooms were used as an officer’s mess and headquarters for British units stationed in the area. The grounds of the chateau were also the site of several artillery emplacements, a rifle range and an improvised parade ground and football pitch. Throughout 1916 and ’17 British troops could be seen drilling in the fields next to the chateau or unloading supplies from barges on the La Bassée Canal, which runs just south of the village.

The British section of the cemetery was used by infantry and artillery units stationed in the area until April 1918, when the relative quiet of the sector was shattered by the German Spring Offensive and Gorre became a support post close behind the front line during the Battle of Estaire. This battle was one of two massive German assaults on the Commonwealth positions from Ypres to Festubert that became known as the Battle of the Lys. When the battle erupted on 9 April, the 55th (West Lancashire) Division occupied the front-line trenches running north from Givenchy to Richebourg L’Avoué. The Allied positions to their left, around the village of Le Touret, were held by Portuguese units.

After a preliminary artillery bombardment that began on the evening of 7 April the German Sixth Army, spearheaded by storm troops, attacked in force early on the morning of the 9th. Heavy mist enabled the attackers to get very close to the Allied lines before they were observed and Portuguese units suffered heavy casualties and began to retire. Further south, the various formations of the 55th Division were hard pressed from the outset and the front line trenches around Givenchy were the scene of fierce fighting between British and German troops. The divisional brigade holding the northern section of the British line was forced to pull back, but well-organised counter-attacks and determined defence elsewhere enabled the 55th Division to hold its ground for the rest of the battle and prevent a major German breakthrough. Fighting continued in the trenches east of Gorre until 17 April when the German forces finally broke off the attack. In just over a week of fighting almost 3,000 officers and men of the Division had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, but the territory over which they had fought remained in Allied hands.

When he was killed in 1917 Leonard’s parents were still living at 7 Stanley Villas in Runcorn.

Runcorn Guardian 24th August 1917

PRIVATE LEN MARSHALL

News has been received of the death on active service of Private Leonard Marshall, elder son of Mr. Edwin Marshall, secretary to the Runcorn Urban Council. He met his death as a result of the explosion of a shell, which fell close to him whilst his battery was engaged in covering fire during an attack on the enemy defences on August 11th. He was attached to a trench mortar battery. He was buried the day after his death by a chaplain. Letters from his Captain and Lieutenant pay a fine tribute to his soldierly and gentlemanly qualities.

Soldiers Effects to his father Edwin, no pension record found.

Leonard’s twin brother served in the RFC/RAF and survived the war.

Leonard is commemorated on the Helsby High/Runcorn Secondary School Roll of Honour. He is also commemorated on the Ministry of Labour War Memorial situated in the Department for Work and Pensions Headquaters at Caxton House, London. Leonard had been employed by the Board of Trade Labour Department (North Western Division) before enlisting.

His father died in the March quarter of 1933, the only record found for his death is in Bournemouth. 

However, his death was reported in the Runcorn Weekly News on 10th February 1933: 

Twin brother Percy died in Bournemouth in 1976. 

Grateful thanks are extended to Linda Woodfine Michelini and David Bohl for the biographical information and photograph of Leonard.  

We currently have no further information on Leonard Marshall. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.