Evelyn Geoffrey Lord
The National Archives files for Evelyn Geoffrey Lord can be accessed at this link - National Archives
EVELYN GEOFFREY LORD 2nd Lieutenant Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 37th Bn. d. 25 June 1918
Evelyn Geoffrey Lord was born in 1886 in Audenshaw. He was the son of Charles Lord, solicitor, and Evelyn (née Lord). By 1891, he was living living at Oak Lawn, Manchester Road, Audenshaw, aged 4, with his parents and sister, Dorothy, aged 2. Ten years later, in 1901, he was a boarder at Uppingham School, (admitted in September 1900), where he stayed until April 1905. At that time, his parents were at 10 Wilbraham Road, south Manchester. In 1911, he was a solicitor's articled clerk and was living at 1 Brighton Grove, Rusholme, a boarder at the home of Harry Whittaker.
He married Marietta Adelaide Augusta Godbey in the first quarter of 1915 in Holborn. According to the National Probate Calendar, he lived at 14 Jubilee Place, Chelsea. He died at Worsley Hall Red Cross Hospital following an operation and was buried at St. Mark's on 28 June 1918, aged 34. This was probably because it was the most convenient place for burial following his treatment at The New Hall. Probate was granted on 16 September to Marietta Adelaide Augusta Lord (his widow).
In reporting his death on the 29 June 1918 The Buxton Advertiser gave Geoffrey's parents' address as "Wood Edge, Buxton". By 1919, his sister, Dorothy, had also moved in with them following the death in 1917 of her husband, Lt. Col. Cyril Benton Johnson.
Mrs. E. G. Lord applied for husband's medals on 3/11/21. Evelyn Geoffrey was mentioned in Despatches on 24 December 1917.
Geoffrey was Gazetted on 25 October 1916 from Cadet to 2nd Lieutenant in The Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) (London Gazette, 21 November 1916). His Medal Index Card states that he entered into War service on 17th March 1917. The 37th Battalion was part of the 12th (Eastern) Division by the 4 February 1916, and Geoffrey would have joined the Battalion in time to take part in the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and looks like he was wounded as he was transferred to a field hospital on 6/4/17.
By late February 1918 Geoffrey was in the newly formed 32nd Machine Gun Corps. They were rapidly transferred south from the Ypres sector around the Arras/Somme battlefield. On the 3rd of April the battalion provided massive machine gun support during the operation around Ayette, firing approximately 31,000 rounds!
Between 5th- 8th April they remained heavily engaged around Humbercamps. It is here on 9th April, that he and 16 comrades were gassed (see war diary below). He was sent home to the Worsley Hall Red Cross Hospital on 13th April 1918 due to the gas poisoning. He died there on the 25th June 1918 following an operation.
More information on the life of Evelyn Geoffrey Lord can be found at the Buxton War Memorials Site
Researched and written by Paul R Speakman
