Lemuel Godfrey

Story:
Lemuel Godfrey was born in Hackney, London, on 23 Feb 1893 and baptised there on 21 Mar 1893 the son of Reginald Godfrey and Mary Godfrey (nee Marsh).   His mother had died shortly after Lemuel's birth during 1894 and his father followed in 1907. By the time of the 1901 Census he was living with his grandmother in Glastonbury, Somerset.  By 1911 he had moved to Bittles Green, Motcombe, Shaftesbury, Dorset.    He had joined the Machine Gun Corps as a Private rising to the rank of Corporal (Service No. 36711).  He served in France and Flanders with the 49th Battalion S.S. when he was awarded the Military Medal.  He had been treated at the 39th Casualty Clearing Station on 4 Aug 1917 after being gassed. He was discharged on 27 Feb 1919 and further awarded the Victory and British War Medals.   He had married Dorothy Vera Stone in Motcombe, Dorset, on 26 May 1918.  The 1921 Census shows him living at 6 Church Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset, working as an Accountant to the Clerk of Guardians and Rural District Council. By the time of the 1939 Register he had moved to 632 New Buildings, Pewsey, Wiltshire, working as a Civilian Clerk for an RAF Squadron though he later had a Service No. 1355760 and was based at Fighter Command, Aston Down, Gloucestershire. He died on 3 Nov 1940 in a Military Hospital at Calne, Wilshire, following a growth on his lungs.