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7771 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
Harry Lorkings was born around 1890 in Glemsford, one of seven surviving children of John and Adelaide Lorkings. His father was a Coconut mat maker and the family lived at one time in Cross Street and at number 22 and 24 Church Street.
Harry enlisted in Sudbury and served as a regular with the Suffolk Regiment. In 1911 he was stationed in Alexandria, Egypt with the 1st Battalion at Mustapha Pasha Barracks. When war was declared Harry was in Khartoum in the Sudan.
The battalion returned to England in October 1914. The battalion which formed part of 101st Brigade, 34th Division landed in France in January 1915, it is not known why Harry did not join his unit until 24 March 1915. The battalion saw action at the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April – 25 May 1915) when the first gas attacks were launched by the Germans on 22 April 1915.
The battalion war diary records that on 24 April they advanced under heavy shellfire alongside the 1st/12th Battalion, London Regiment while attempting to reach Gravenstafel Ridge. They were stopped by heavy fire with the battalion suffering 280 casualties.
Harry died of wounds on 24 April 1915, just one month after landing in France and lies buried in Dochy Farm New British Cemetery, Langemark-Poelkapelle, Belgium.
A Cross of Remembrance was laid by his grave in April 2006.
Harry was awarded the 1914-5 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
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