Biography of Private Lawrence Edgar Joyce (42064)
1st/4th Battalion Est Yorkshire Regiment
Formerly M/288608, A.S.C. (M.T.)
Died 8th December 1918

Soldier

  • Name: Lawrence Edgar Joyce
  • Date of birth: 1898
  • Place of Birth: Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England
  • Date of Birth Registration: October – December 1898
  • Place of Birth Registration: Sleaford District

Father

  • Name: George Joyce
  • DOB: 16th September 1873
  • Place of Birth: Morcott, Rutland, England
  • Occupation: Bricklayer on estate

Mother

  • Name: Sarah Tindale
  • DOB: 5th November 1877
  • Place Of Birth: Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England
  • Marriage: 27th December 1897 Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England

Siblings: (Name), (DOB), (POB)

  • Lawrence Edgar Joyce, 1898, Sleaford
  • Winifred Sarah Joyce, 1900, Grimsthorpe
  • Eveline Grace Joyce, 1901, Grimsthorpe
  • Arthur George Joyce, 1904, Grimsthorpe
  • John Edward Joyce, 1906, Grimsthorpe
  • Nina Joyce, 1908, Grimsthorpe
  • Arthur Ernest Joyce, 1911, Grimsthorpe
  • Herbert Joyce, 1914, Grimsthorpe

Census

  • 1901: Lawrence is living with his parents in his grandparents house at 19 Castle Street, New Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
  • 1911: Lawrence is living with his parents in Grimsthorpe. The census gives him an age of 12 and he is listed as still at school.

Relatives in services

  • None found

Marriage

  • No marriage for Lawrence has been found and because of his age we can assume that he never had the opportunity to marry.

Newspaper Mentions

  • None found

Military Records

Attestation Papers

  • None found

Soldier’s Died In The Great War

  • These records show that Private Lawrence Edgar Joyce, 42064, 1st/4th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment was killed in action on 8th February 1918 in the Western European Theatre in France and Flanders.

As you can see the date of death is different.

Pension Records

  • Available

Effects Left To

  • Father George
  • Date on his effects is also different 5.11.18

 

Medals

  • The British Medal
  • The Victory Medal

Memorials

  • UK:
  • Edenham, Roll of Honour in St Michael and all Angels Church

 

  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
  • In memory of Private L E Joyce, 42064, 1st/4th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment who died on 8 December 1918 Age 20
  • Son of George and Sarah Joyce, of 17, Carre St., Sleaford, Lincs.
  • Remembered with honour, Cologne Southern Cemetery
  • Grave XII. G. 23.

© The War Graves Photographic Project

© The War Graves Photographic Project

Military Service Timeline

Lawrence was the son of George Joyce, a bricklayer on the estate and his wife Sarah Tindale. They had been married in 1897 in Sleaford, Lawrence being the eldest of their 6 children.
Lawrence Edgar Joyce, 1898, Sleaford
Winifred Sarah Joyce, 1900, Grimsthorpe
Eveline Grace Joyce, 1901, Grimsthorpe
Arthur George Joyce, 1904, Grimsthorpe
John Edward Joyce, 1906, Grimsthorpe

Nina Joyce, 1908, Grimsthorpe

 

The census returns show that in 1901, Lawrence is living with his parents in his grandparents house at 19 Castle Street, New Sleaford, Lincolnshire. By 1911 they have moved and Lawrence is living with his parents in Grimsthorpe. The census gives him an age of 12 and he is listed as still at school. His father is now working as a bricklayer on the estate.

 

Lawrence enlisted in the army in Grantham and was to be posted to the East Yorkshire Regiment given the army number 42064, most likely in February 1917. A note on Soldiers Died in the Great War suggests that he may have been Formerly M/288608, A.S.C. (M.T.) although we can find any other documents to confirm this.

 

Lawrence was serving with the 1/4th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment when he went missing, later to be confirmed as being taken prisoner of war. The war office daily list of the 19th July 1918 lists Lawrence as missing. Prisoner of war records do show Lawrence as being a prisoner with a recorded number of P42969, however the records are indexed under Jayce and not Joyce although there is a later amendment to the card.

There is a discrepancy in the records with the Soldier’s Effects Register giving a date of the 5th November 1918 “Prisoner of War Germany, presumed dead”. The Soldiers Died in the Great War Register gives the date of death of the 8th of February 1918.  The CWGC and the Red Cross Prisoner of War Records both have the date of the 8th December 1918. The German records confirm that the correct date is the 8th December 1918.


Lawrance Joyce died in Friedrichsfeld on the 8th December 1918 as a result of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Sources

  • WW1 Soldier’s Records (www.ancestry.co.uk)
  • British Newspaper Archive.
  • Fold 3
  • Find My Past
  • Genealogist
  • Forces War Records
  • British Army Service Numbers
  • War Gratuity Calculator
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  • National Archives – Battalion War Diaries
  • General Registry Office