E. J. Milborrow
Service no. 93005
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, 17th Bty. 83rd Bde
Enlisted in Brixton; lived in Stockwell
Died on 11 July 1918 aged 28
CWGC: “Son of Mr and Mrs E. Milborrow, of 83, Hargwyne Street, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at St Souplet British Cemetery, Nord, France

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

In 1911, Ernest John Milborrow, 20, was an unemployed laundry warehouseman, living with his parents and six of his seven siblings in four rooms at 83 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell.  His father, Ernest Alfred, 43, a silk tie cutter, and his mother, 45, were both born in Lambeth.

Ernest Milborrow’s service history has not survived but those for his brothers William and Arthur Milborrow have. They both joined the Royal Field Artillery, 162nd (Howitzer) Brigade in Camberwell on the same day, 27 March 1916, and were given adjacent Service numbers.

William (L13105), aged 23 and working as a butcher when he enlisted, rose through the ranks and was demobbed in 1920 as a Serjeant. His career included two disciplinary issues. He was reprimanded in October 1915 for insubordinate conduct to an officer and again in July 1918 for absence from parade. His medical history included having his infected teeth removed (November 1915) and inoculations against typhoid. He caught flu in March 1919, just at the start of the pandemic. He was 5 feet 5¾ inches tall.

Arthur Thomas (L13106) described himself as a bank messenger, and was 19 when he enlisted. He was demobbed as a driver in 1919. He was disciplined in February 1917 for being absent from parade, and in March 1918 for going absent from leave for one day. He was hospitalised for two days with diarrhoea and for eight with a sprained foot (“nothing found,” said the doctors). He was 5 feet 3 inches tall.

Information from the censuses

In 1911, Ernest John Milborrow, 20, was an unemployed laundry warehouseman, living in four rooms at 83 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell (where they had been since at least 1901), with his parents and siblings. All nine children (eight of whom are on the census) and the parents were Lambeth-born:
Ernest Alfred Milborrow, 43, a silk tie cutter
Ellen Milborrow, 45
Ernest John Milborrow, 20
Willie (William) Milborrow, 19, a butcher’s roundsman (employed to make rounds or deliveries)
Nellie Elizabeth Milborrow, 14
Arthur Thomas Milborrow, 12, at school and working as a newsboy
Elsie Phoebe Milborrow, 11
Edith Milborrow, 9
Edward Milborrow, 6
George Milborrow, 2