Herbert Thomas Ralls

Story:
Herbert Thomas Ralls was born in Semley, Wiltshire, on 22 Sep 1885 the son of George Patrick Ralls, a Railway Clerk, and Mary Jane Ralls (nee Hayward).  He spent his early life in his parents home at The Porters Cottage, Railway Sidings, Semley.  Sometime after 1901 he had moved to Raynes Park, London where he was working as a Carpenter.  He married Elsie Frances Connors in Staines, Middlesex, in 1908.   He enlisted with the Royal Naval Air Service on 3 Jul 1917 (having been in the Royal Navy Voluntary Reserve prior to this time (Service No. Y2990)) as a Rigger (Service No. F32657).  He was transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force on 1 Apr 1918 as a Corporal Mechanic (Service No. 232657).  He was eventually discharged on 11 Apr 1919 and awarded the British War Medal.   The 1921 Census shows him living at 291 Haydon's Road, South Wimbledon, Surrey, working as a Carpenter and Joiner. By the time of the 1939 Register he had moved to 27 Bierston Road, Wimbledon, Surrey, now described as a Joiner.  His death was recorded in the Surrey North Eastern Registry in 1959 and he was buried in Merton, Surrey, on 12 Mar 1959.