Born in 1896, John Thomas Long was the son of Hannah Ann Long and John Thomas, a canned foods merchant. In 1911 the family lived at 8 Belgrave Road, Ilford. He attended the Coopers Company School, Bow, between the years 1907 to 1914, and then later joined the London University Officer Training Corps whilst training to become a doctor at St. Bartholomew's Hospital.
He enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps and became a Second Lieutenant in the 53rd Squadron. He was posted to France as a pilot officer but on 8th October 1917 his plane crashed whilst under enemy fire. He was admitted to the casualty clearing station and then to the hospital but died of his wounds two days later on the 10th October 1917 aged 20.
John Long’s body is buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
Some information / extracts have been reproduced with kind permission of Karen Pack from her book ‘Coopers’ Boys & Coborn Girls: Their Part in the Great War’ © Karen Pack, 2015
Sources:
Ancestry.com
ICHS school records and magazines
Commonwealth War Graves Commission