Brothers in Arms: The Greenwoods

Albert James Greenwood was born in Colchester in 1863. During his adult life, he travelled further and further west, marrying Mary Ann Anderson in Limehouse in 1888, and then moving to Holborn, where the couple’s eldest  son, Albert Anderson Greenwood, was born on 28 February 1890. Second son, Stanley John Greenwood, was born in 1892. Five years later, on 1 February 1897, another son, Leslie William Greenwood was born in Harringay and baptised by the Revd. J.H. Greaves on 28 February 1897 at St. Paul’s, Harringay. Finally, in 1899, Leonard Arthur became the baby of the family. Albert (senior) was a jeweller and by 1911 had become the manager of a jewellery shop.

All four sons were of the right age to have served in the First World War, although Leslie and Leonard turned 18 during the war. However, the church records of St. Paul’s, Harringay only make reference to Stanley and Leslie having served. It may be that Albert, being the eldest, and already 24 when war broke out, had moved out of the family home by then, so was no longer within the parish. It is also possible that Albert and Leonard were conscripted, which would mean that they would not appear on the Roll of Honour nor, having survived the war, would they have been on the Alabaster War Memorial. As yet, we have not been able to pinpoint military records for Albert or Leonard, but we are still working on it.

During the war, the family was living at 29 Burgoyne Road, just around the corner from St. Paul’s, Harringay. Stanley and Leslie both joined the Honourable Artillery Company. Leslie joined as a private on 30 March 1916 at the HAC barracks just north of the City of London as part of one of three infantry companies recruited for war service. We do not know for certain when Stanley joined up, but the brothers’ service numbers are so close together that it is likely they joined up together.

Stanley eventually transferred to the Royal Sussex Regiment, where he remained a private. His army service records are missing (probably lost in the fire that destroyed many records, or during the Second World War), but he did survive the war. Leslie, however, fought with his battalion at Bucquoy on 25 February 1917, where he was wounded in the thigh and abdomen by a bomb. These wounds were to prove fatal, and he died three weeks later, on 17 March 1917. As he had made it to a hospital, his effects were able to be returned to his family. These included letters, photos, a wrist watch, an 18ct gold ring, a torch, a tin of cigarettes, a tin of tea tablets, a purse, a letter case, a notebook, a fountain pen, cards and a bag. Leslie is buried in the Varennes Military Cemetery in the Departement of the Somme, Picardy, France. His grave inscription reads, “A noble life mourned by his parents, brothers and all who knew him.”