Bromley War Memorial

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Leon Arnold Claessens

20/11/1890 - 31/07/1917
CWGC Memorial: Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial

Place of birth: Lambeth, Surrey
Last known address in Bromley: 7 Gwydyr Road

Military information

Regiment/Service: Northamptonshire Regiment
Battalion/Ship: 7th Bn
Rank: Private
Number: 201866

Family information

Parents: Jan Arnold Leon & Sophie Claessens (nee Gray)
Parents' occupation: Public house manager
Siblings: Sophie Mabel, Alma Cornelia, Mildred Adriene Eliese, Wilhelmina
Wife: Gladys Irene Rawlings
Marriage date: 1915
Children: Jack Leon, Francis Leslie

Census information

1891
Address: 24 Brook Street, Lambeth
1901
Address: 24 Brook Street, Lambeth
1911
Address: Canada
Occupation: Waiter

Extra details

Leon was the only son, and third child, of John and Sophie Claessens.

In March 1911 Leon sailed to Canada stating that he was a waiter. He returned, embarking from Montreal, on 16th November 1914, he says he is an American citizen and his occupation is chef. By this time his parents had settled in Bromley as proprietors of the White Hart Hotel in the High Street. Leon married Gladys Rawlings in 1915 and they assisted in the running of the hotel.

Leon enlisted under the Derby Scheme early in 1916, being sent to the Front a year later. He died on the first day of the Third Battle of Ypres during an attack on Shrewsbury Forest, Belgium.

Gladys received a pension of 22/11 per week for their two children. She married Frank Hulbert in 1922.


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