No.5824756, Lance Corporal, Frank Ernest MOTT
Aged 29
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Frank Mott was born on 25th October 1910 in Rayleigh, Essex (4th qtr 1910 Rochford 4a:641), son of Frank Ernest and Agnes MOTT
(née ROWLANDSON). Baptised in Holy Trinity, Rayleigh on 12th January 1911 Not found in the 1911 census, but his father's pension records from the Army show that he had 2 illegitimate half brothers, Herbert [7-2-1907 born Staveley and Sidney [4-3-1909] born Brock; sister Kathleen Annie [5-10-1911] born Rayleigh, and brother Ronald James [22-10-1917] born Rayleigh. He married Eva SMITH in Bury St.Edmunds in 1933, their son Dennis was born in 1934. In the 1939 register his widowed mother and his wife were at Red House Cottage, Bradfield Combust (1 closed record). His widow married John J ENNIS in Ipswich in 1948. |
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details
Three days before the start of the evacuation at Dunkirk and Frank had reached just NE of Lille, trying to stay ahead of the Germans who, as
in WW1, were racing to the sea to cut the British off from the Belgians. Thomas's unit was one of those trying to hold a line between the
Rivers Escault and Lys, but to no avail
On 23rd the battalion was ordered back to Wattrelos and one last effort made to halt the Germans, but it was not to be. The British had been
cut off from the French, the Belgians had capitulated, all that was left was a hope to evacuate from Dunkirk. Only a strange order from
Hitler to his forces to halt on the 24th gave the British a better chance of that.
Photo CWGC