Derek Charles Langham (or Langham-Mason) (Service No. 14545130) was killed in action on 28 October, 1944. He was a Gunner with 33 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery. He was initially buried at Cemetery Huijsmans Rieterdreef Overloon and subsequently re-interred on 12 May 1947 in grave I. E. 7 at the Overloon Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Overloon. His inscription reads “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away. Song of Songs. 11.17”
 
No photo of Derek Charles Langham-Mason has yet been found. Should anyone reading this have a photo of him or further information regarding him – or if they are aware of any errors in his biography below can they please contact the Foundation? 

MILITAry career

It isn’t known at what point Derek joined his regiment. However, the 33 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery
landed on Sword Beach on D-Day as part of 3 Division. They were involved in heavy fighting in Normandy and in the bombardment fired before Operation Goodwood on 18 July 1944. At the beginning of September, they left for Belgium and Holland, acting as right-flank protection for Operation Market-Garden, the attempt to smash a way across the Rhine by way of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem. The Allied advance was outrunning its supplies, and for a while the Division had to eat German rations: “The honey biscuits and frozen vegetables were approved, but the meat was not popular”.  After the failure of Market-Garden, in October 1944, 3 Division was involved in the successful capture of the village of Overloon, a costly and bloody battle. For the next four months, 3 Division held the bank of the River Maas from Cuijk to Vierlingsbeek. However, on 28 October 1944, German counter-battery fire struck 33 Field, with over a hundred shells raining down on the 25-pounder gun positions. Derek Charles Langham, aged just 19, was one of their ten casualties killed that day.

AMY RUTH LANGHAM’S birth family

Derek Charles Langham was born on 9 November 1924 at 350 Oxford Road, Reading. His mother was named as Amy Ruth Laugham of Glasspool Farm Swallowfield, Berks. No father’s name was given, suggesting he was illegitimate.
 
Amy’s parents were Alfred Holdich Langham and Mary Langham. Alfred had married Mary Lewington in the district of Romford in Essex in 1900. Alfred had been born in Islington, London, in 1875 while Mary was born in Swallowfield, Berkshire, in 1879. They had children as follows, all in Romford district: Alfred John (1901), Amy Ruth (1902),
Florence Mary (1906) and Beatrice Ethel (1908). In 1911 the family were living at 143 Hampton Road, Ilford, Essex. Alfred was a Sorter in the Post Office.
 
Alfred Holdich Langham died on 1 March 1921 aged just 45. His address at the time was Hollycot, Leslie Road, Rayleigh, Essex. His widow, Mary Langham, administered his estate.
 
At the time of the 1921 census in June that year, Mary Langham was still living at Leslie Road, Rayleigh and so too was her son, Alfred John Langham. He was 19 and working as a Ship’s Steward’s Assistant at Mercantile Marine. Beatrice and Florence Langham, aged 12 and 15, were not at home but were visitors in the household of Annie Bennett, aged 72, at Church View, Didcot, Berkshire. Amy was a visitor in the household of Reuben and Emma Jane Mary Elizabeth Hooper at 32, Station Hill, Didcot, Berkshire. Amy was 18 and described as a “Lady Companion”.  The girls may have been sent to family friends for a period following the death of their father.
 
Mary Langham went on to marry for a second time on 17 June 1922. Her husband was Frank Bone and they married at All Saint’s, Swallowfield, Berkshire. Frank was aged 53 and a farmer at Glasspool Farm, Reading. The witnesses at the wedding were Alfred John Langham and Amy Ruth Langham, Mary’s eldest children.
 
Two years later, in 1924, Amy Ruth Langham gave birth to Derek Charles Langham in Reading, though she was living with her mother and stepfather at Glasspool Farm, Swallowfield at the time. Amy was described as a Companion Help at the time of the birth.

The 1929 electoral register shows Amy Ruth Langham living at the Manse in the parish of Stock in Suffolk. In the same household are the Rev. Thomas William Mason and Charlotte Craven Mason. It is likely that Amy was acting as a Lady’s Companion to Charlotte Mason – though it isn’t known when she started working for them. The Masons were shown in the same property in 1928, but not Amy, so perhaps she had been working for another employer previously. However, women under 30 only got the vote in 1928, so it is also possible she may not yet have been added to the register. It is also uncertain whether Derek Charles Langham was with her at this time.

Rev. THOMAS WILLIAM MASON

Thomas W Mason had married Charlotte C Skinner in the West Ham district of Essex in 1911. Charlotte Craven Skinner was born in 1875 in the district of Oakham in Rutland. Her mother’s maiden name was Craven. Thomas William Mason was born in 1879 at Trelough Green, Treville, Herefordshire. His parents were Christopher William Mason and Sarah Ann Gwatkin who had married in Herefordshire in 1874. Thomas was living with his family in Trelough Green in 1881 but by 1891 they had moved to Bath Road, Llangyfelach, Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. His father was an agricultural labourer.
 
At the time of the 1911 census Thomas was a visitor in the household of Charlotte Skinner (Snr) who was described as widowed and a Journalist. Her daughter, Charlotte Craven Skinner, who was 35, was there too. They were living at 74 Osborne Road Forestgate, West Ham, London. Thomas was 31 and described as a Divinity Student. He married the younger Charlotte shortly afterwards that same year.
 
Thomas became a Pastor in the Congregational Church in 1911. The Congregational Church is a non conformist Protestant church in which the congregation chooses the Pastor rather than having a hierarchical structure like the Church of England.
 
An article in the Yarmouth Independent on 12 March 1932 tells us much about where Thomas was and when:
“New Minister: The Rev. Thomas William Mason of Thornton Heath, has accepted an invitation to the pastorate of Gorleston Congregational Church and will commence his ministry there on March 20th. He was trained at Nottingham College, and his first pastorate was at Briton Ferry from 1911 to 1913. Then he was at Rayleigh for 13 years and at Stock from 1927 to 1929, when he became the Southern Counties District Superintendent of the United Kingdom Temperance Alliance.”
 
From the article it is clear that he first went to Briton Ferry as Pastor. This is near Port Talbot in Wales. He then moved to Rayleigh near Southend-on-Sea in Essex in 1913 and remained there until 1927. By 1921 Amy Ruth Langham’s parents, and perhaps Amy herself, were living in Rayleigh so may have known the Masons at that time. In 1927 the Masons moved to the Parish of Stock which is near Chelmsford in Essex. It was while Thomas and Charlotte were in Stock in 1929 that Amy was first seen definitely living with them. It seems that they left Stock that same year. Amy Ruth Langham, but not the Masons, were still shown at the Manse in Stock in an electoral register in 1930. The Masons had moved to Thornton Heath in 1929 which is in South London near Croydon and took a position as Southern Counties District Superintendent of the United Kingdom Temperance Alliance. This organisation’s aim was to persuade the Government to ban the trade in alcohol in the UK. On 20 March, 1932, he was appointed as pastor of Gorleston Congregational Church. Gorleston is on the coast just south of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.
 
However, Charlotte Mason died on 5 October, 1932 aged just 56 and was buried in Gorleston Old Cemetery. The inscription reads “In tender and affectionate memory of Charlotte Craven Mason wife of the Rev Thomas W Mason who entered into rest Oct 5th 1932 aged 56 years At home with the Lord”. Her probate record shows that they were living at 51 Colomb Road, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk and that Thomas administered her estate.
 
It is not thought that Thomas and Charlotte had any children.

AMY RUTH LANGHAM’S MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

In 1934 Thomas W Mason went on to marry Amy R Langham in the Yarmouth District of Norfolk. He would be around 55 and she would be 32.
 
In 1936 Ruth M E Mason was born in the Reading district of Berkshire. Her mother’s maiden name was Langham. It is thought that she was Thomas and Amy’s child – and so Derek Charles’ half-sister.
 
By 1939 Thomas had moved again and he was living at The Manse, Tiptree which is between Chelmsford and Colchester in Essex. Thomas was again described as a Congregational Minister, born 27 August 1879. Amy was initially shown as Ruth A Mason though Amy was noted above. Her birth date was given as 7 July 1901, though she had actually been born in 1902. There were two closed records suggesting the presence of children. These could have been 15 year old Derek Charles and 3 year old Ruth. It isn’t known if Thomas formally adopted Derek Charles, though military sources state that he was the “adopted son of Amy Ruth Mason”. Given that some sources describe him as Derek Charles Langham-Mason, it is probable that Thomas adopted him, though it seems he did not always choose to use that name.
 
Thomas and Amy were still at Tiptree in 1940 as an article in the Haverhill Echo of 21 September, 1940, says the following: “Tiptree Minister Fined: At Witham Petty Sessions with Mr C Hope K.C. presiding, the Rev. Thomas William Mason, minister of the Tiptree Congregational Church, was fined £3 for failing to comply with the lighting instructions at his manse on August 24th”.
 
Sadly, Derek Charles Langham died on 28 October, 1944 in the Netherlands. His probate record gives his name as Derek Charles Langham and an address for him at the time of 121 Straight Road, Lexdon, Colchester. Amy Ruth Mason administered his will and she was described as the wife of Thomas William Mason.
 
Ruth M E Mason married in Yarmouth district in Spring 1955, though her husband is described as John C Johnson or Stewart. The reason for this isn’t clear. It may be that he, too, had a complex parentage. A John C Johnson was born in Yarmouth District in 1933 to a mother with maiden name Johnson, suggesting that he was illegitimate. It may be that his mother later married someone with surname Stewart and he took this name, though this marriage has not been found. A John C Stewart, born 1933, died in Great Yarmouth district in 1999.
 
A child called Nancy M Stewart was born in late 1955 in Yarmouth district with a mother’s maiden name of Mason – so this could be Ruth’s daughter. No marriage, address or death for Nancy M Stewart have been found with any certainty.
 
Ruth Margaret E Wood later married Peter John Wood in 1999 in Gretna, Scotland. In 2002-11 they were living in Montrose in Scotland, but later lived in Spain.
 
Thomas William Mason died on 27 June 1957 in St Andrews Hospital in Thorpe next Norwich, Norfolk. This was a mental health institution. His widow, Amy Ruth Mason, administered his estate – but he was buried alongside his first wife in Gorleston Old Cemetery. The following inscription was added: “also her husband The Rev Thomas W Mason who entered into rest June 27th 1957.”
 
Amy Ruth Mason died in the district of Great Yarmouth in 1993. Her birth date was given as 7 July, 1902.

OTHER MILITARY CONNECTIONS

Derek’s uncle, Alfred John Langham, himself joined the Royal Artillery on 26 October 1938 (Service No. 1433085). In 1939 he was a Gunner in the 156 Battery, Royal Artillery (T) 82nd Regiment. The 82nd (Essex) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain’s Territorial Army (TA) from 1938 until 1955. During World War II it served in the Norwegian Campaign, defended Gibraltar and the D-Day invasion ports, and took part in Operation Diver against the V-1 flying bombs. Alfred was transferred to the reserves on 23rd October, 1945. He was fully discharged in 1954 as being over age.

From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records; British Newspaper Archive
General Record Office: Derek Charles Langham’s Birth Certificate
Winchester College – Biography of Aylmer Penrose who died in the same regiment on the same day
Yarmouth Independent: 12 March 1932
Haverhill Echo of 21 September, 1940
Wikipedia: 82nd (Essex) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
Assistance from Russell Lavelle-Langham and Liz Stokes – both cousins once removed of Derek

Research Elaine Gathercole