Tags
Aston, Birmingham, Evesham, Express & Star, France, Kings Norton, Manchester Regiment, Midland Counties Express, Ormskirk, Richard Mortiboy, Royal Air Force, Royal Army Service Corps, Salonica, Serbian Army, Sussex, Warwick, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton Higher Grade School, Worcester Street
These were the sons of Edward and Mary Elizabeth Hanson Mortiboy. Their mother, Mary, died in 1892. In 1901 the family (which, along with the widowed father, consisted of siblings Emily Jane, Mary Isabella J., Florence E., Richard Hugh Edward, Edward Hanson, Henry/Harry Hanson and William Woolley) were living at 32 Worcester Street, Wolverhampton. William’s father, Edward, remarried, to Kate Hinde, in West Bromwich in 1903. The family were living at the same address in 1911
Richard was born on 29 April 1885. In 1901 he was working in the electrical engineering industry, and was a motor engineers officer’s clerk in 1911. He became an Acting Staff Sergeant and later Second Lieutenant with the Royal Army Service Corps (service number M2/150331). He first served in Salonika from 3 June 1917, and served with the Serbian Army as an officer in command of an A. S. C. section. He survived the war. In 1933, he married Marion Dutton in Ormskirk. In 1939, he was living with his wife in Warwick, and working as an auto engine service rep. He died in Evesham, Worcestershire in 1967.
Henry or Harry was born on 11 May 1889. He was an officer’s clerk at an electric plateworks in 1911. During the First World War, he served with as a Lieutenant with the Royal Air Force, and spent time on special duty in Sussex. He, too, survived the war.He married Lilian Edna Price in Aston in 1920, and the couple had a daughter, Sheila Dorothy, in King’s Norton in 1923. They were living in Birmingham in 1939, and Henry was working as a Silver and electro plate manufacturer and travelling representative. He also served as a voluntary driver for the York Road ambulance department. He died in Birmingham on 21 September 1954. The value of his effects was £4215 12s.
William was born in Wolverhampton in 1892. In 1911, William was working as an estate officer’s clerk. William enlisted first as a Staff Sergeant with the Army Service Corps (number 062848), and then served with the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, and became a Second Lieutenant. He was killed in action on 19 August 1918. The Midland Counties Express featured him on 31 August 1918. The Express & Star on 24 September 1918 mentioned a letter from a Revered D. R. Rogers, chaplain to the forces, which had been sent to William’s father, Edward. This gave more details of how he was killed:
On the 19th inst. our people had a scrap with the Germans, and Lieutenant Mortiboy, fighting pluckily, gave his life in defending his comrades. His body was brought back from the front line and buried in the British military cemetery at Harbonnieres village. I had the pleasure of knowing your son very well. He was a brave man, and he will be greatly missed by his comrades.
William is buried at Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, France, and his name appears on the memorial of the Higher Grade School, which he presumably attended.