Born in 1893, Leonard Walter Hartin was the son of Susannah Hartin and Walter Hartin, a clerk. In 1911, they were living at 34 Norfolk Road, Seven Kings, Ilford. He attended Downshall Elementary school, then Coopers Company School in Bow from 1902 to 1908, after which he went on to work at the London Stock Exchange.
Leonard served as a rifleman in the 2nd Rifle Brigade and repaired barbed wire defences by night and laid cables by day. During the Battle of Aubers Ridge nearly all the assault officers had been killed or wounded. Fighting to repel counter attacks meant ammunition and weapons were reduced to critical levels. Leonard was killed in action on the 9th May 1915.
Leonard’s name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium.
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