Leslie Camfield (Service No. 14598613) was killed in action on 14 October, 1944 in the vicinity of Overloon. He was aged 22 and a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment. He was initially buried in the garden of the Vogelsangs family in Overloon and re-interred on 15 July 1946 in Grave I. B. 6. at the CWGC Cemetery in Overloon. His grave is inscribed “He was beloved of all who knew him.”

No photo of Leslie Camfield 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

Leslie Camfield enlisted on 6 May 1943. He was described as being 5ft 9in tall, weighed 126 lbs and had grey eyes and brown hair. He was declared A1 medically fit. He was initially posted to 57 Primary Training Wing and then, on 17 June 1943, to the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment. It seems that he was “put away” to the 1st Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters on 15 September 1943. This means that he was still undergoing training and was assigned to this Battalion for that purpose. He was transferred on 1 December 1943 to a list of soldiers who were temporarily away from their units such as being hospitalised or in reinforcement units or awaiting discharge or transfer. He was again “put away” to the 1st Foresters on 17 February 1944. This battalion remained in the UK for the remainer of the war, but it seems that Leslie was destined to fight overseas. He was assigned to the 41st Reinforcement Holding Unit on 28 June 1944 and embarked for Europe on 1 July 1944. He re-joined the 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment on 9 July 1944.
 
The 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment had taken part in the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. They had been involved in fighting north of Caen throughout June. From 8 to 10 July, the Battalion was engaged in Operation Charnwood which succeeded in capturing the northern part of Caen. However, the Battalion lost 52 men and a further 162 were wounded. It was in the midst of this on 9 July that Leslie Camfield joined them. Leslie will then have fought with them in the rest of the Normandy campaign, then on through Belgium and the Netherlands in August and September.
 
Following the failure to take the bridge at Arnhem in Operation Market Garden in late September 1944, the Allied Forces were left in a very precarious narrow salient through the Netherlands. It was the aim of Operation Aintree to widen this salient by heading south from Nijmegen to take Overloon and then Venray before finally eliminating a German bridgehead on the River Maas near Venlo.
 
On 9 October 1944 the Battalion found itself in Haps, just south of Nijmegen in the Netherlands and North of Overloon. They were ordered to move south to St Anthonis on 11 October, but this was postponed to the following day due to bad weather. The move was completed on 12 October and they then moved slightly further west the next day, though with one man killed and 3 wounded.
 
On the 14 October, the day on which Leslie died, the plan was for B Company to be guided through a wood held by the Royal Ulster Rifles to its front edge from where they would carry out a recce to check if a stream was passable and if the north eastern corner of a wood to the south was held by the enemy. However, the guides were late and the move through the wood was slower than expected, so the recce did not take place. At 7.30am the Company began to advance south out of the wood. However, before the Company had advanced 100yds the enemy opened fire from a track about another 100 yds ahead. The advance continued but came under such heavy fire with so many casualties that the Company Commander issued an order to retreat back to the Royal Ulster Rifles’ position. By this point one Lieutenant and 34 other ranks had been killed or wounded. Following a recce by the Company Commanders, it was decided to launch an attack at 1530 hours with D and A companies in the lead. The enemy had been seen moving in the area of the stream in front of the wood. It was thought that the enemy holding the Battalion objective were probably a Company strong. Immediately the attacking force came into the open they were subjected to intense artillery and mortar fire but they pressed steadily on to reach their objective. During this action the Battalion suffered very heavy casualties including four officers killed and another four wounded. A total of 27 men of the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment who died that day are buried alongside each other at Overloon, including Private Leslie Camfield.

He was awarded the 1939/45 War Medal, 1939/45 Star and France & Germany Star.

Leslie’s Birth Family

Leslie Camfield stated when he enlisted that he was born in Preston, Lancashire on 3 September 1922. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission states that he was the son of Alfred and Ethel Camfield of Harehills, Leeds, Yorkshire. However, neither Leslie’s birth record nor a marriage record for Alfred and Ethel Camfield have been found.

The only record found for Leslie was in the September 1939 register. He was shown living at 18 Redshaw Lane, Leeds which is in the Armley area of Leeds to the south west of the city centre vs Harehills which is to the north east of the City Centre. He was born in September, 1922 and was working as a Wood Machinist. The head of the household was Alfred Camfield, born 22 February 1875. Alfred was shown as married and working as a Coat Maker, Tailor – but was unemployed at the time. There were four closed records, suggesting the presence of children – one before Leslie’s name and three after it. The children’s mother was not present at the time.

The address which Leslie gave when he enlisted on 6 May 1943 was 18 Redshaw Road. This was the same address that he gave for his father, Alfred Camfield, as his next of kin. At that time, Leslie described himself as a Wood Cutting Machinist.

It is believed that Leslie’s mother was Ethel Evelyn White who had been married twice before she formed a relationship with Alfred Camfield sometime between 1919 and 1921. She was 13 years younger than him. It is not thought that they married as her second husband was still alive and Alfred also had a wife who was still alive.
 
They are thought to have had four other children as follows: Stanley Evelyn in 1921 in Hartlepool, Doreen in 1924 in Bramley near Leeds, Clifford in 1927 in Hunslet (Leeds) and Elizabeth in 1928 also in Hunslet.
 
Alfred was still living with his wife in Hartlepool when Stanley was born in 1921, while Ethel was living nearby in Hartlepool with her sister.
 
The reference to Leslie being born in Preston in September 1922 might fit with an Alfred Camfield being found living at 40 Eldon Street, Tonge, Bolton in an Electoral Roll in 1923. In the same household were William and Annie Holden. Ethel was not shown in the same household or elsewhere at that time.
 
Their daughter Doreen’s birthplace indicates that Alfred and Ethel were probably living in Bramley, to the north west of Leeds by 1924. In September 1926 Alfred wrote a letter to the Army from 114 Thorpe Road, Middleton, Rothwell which is south of Leeds and just south of Hunslet. He and Ethel were seen in Electoral Rolls at that same address in 1927 to 1930.
 
Alfred Camfield died on 10 August 1945, less than a year after Leslie died. Ethel Camfield, described as his wife, administered his estate. His probate record said he was “of 8 Redshaw Road, Leeds” but it said he died at 123 Beckett Street in Leeds which is in the Harehills area. St James’ Hospital has occupied that area of Beckett Street for many years so a possibility is that this was where he died.
 
It is not known when Ethel Camfield died.
 
It seems that Stanley Evelyn Camfield also served in WW2. He joined the Royal Artillery in 1937 (Service No. 876494). In 1943 he was serving in Libya in the Middle East and was an Acting Lance Bombadier. He was reported as wounded, but then this record was deleted as he was not a battle casualty. He married Isabella Denyer in 1957 in Luton. They seem to have lived in Luton until at least 1982. They appear to have subsequently moved back to the North East as Stanley Evelyn Camfield died in 1998 in Stockton, Durham and Isabella in 2004, also in Stockton. It is not thought they had any children.
 
Doreen Camfield married Isaac J Moll in 1945 in Leeds. Isaac served as a Corporal in the RAF from 1941 to 1952, including duties as a Fireman in the latter years based at Acaster Malbis near York. They had one son, John Leslie Moll, in late 1945. Doreen died in 1957 in Leeds. In 1958 Isaac Moll then married the widow of Eric Liversidge who was Ethel’s son by her first marriage.
 
Clifford Camfield is thought to have lived in Essex and travelled to New York in 1945 and 1946. It is believed that he married a widow, Doreen N Page (nee Messenger) in Essex in Q1 1952. He then seems to have emigrated, perhaps first to Australia and then Canada.  
 
Elizabeth Camfield is thought to have married Denis Bryan in Leeds in 1954 and had one child.

Leslie’s Father’s Early Life and First Marriage

An Alfred Camfield was born in Richmond, Yorkshire in Q1 1875. He was baptised on 4th March that year. His parents were William and Ann Camfield and his father was a Superintendent of Police. He had a twin brother, Frederick Camfield, who died in infancy.
 
William Camfield was born in 1833 in Ramsgate in Kent while his wife was Ann Ogle who was born in 1835 in Thornton Dale, North Yorkshire. It isn’t known when they married. They appear to have had children as follows: Sarah Ellen 1859, William Edward 1862, John G 1864, Henry O 1866, Annie I 1869, Louisa E 1870, Amy 1872 Alfred 1875, Frederick 1875 (died same year), Frederick c1877. Sarah was born in Stockton, Co. Durham, William in Stokesley, John to Louisa in Scarborough, Amy in Easingwold and the remainder in Richmond. This indicates the extent to which the family moved around.
 
In 1861 William and Ann were living at North End, Hutton Rudby, Stokesley, Yorkshire where William was working as a Police Constable. Their first child was with them. By 1871 they were living at the Village, Sutton on the Forest, Easingwold, Yorkshire where William was again working as a Police Constable. Their first five children except Sarah were with them. In both 1881 and 1891 William and Ann Camfield were living at the Punch Bowl, Shambles, Richmond, Yorkshire. William was now working as a Hotel Keeper.
 
In 1881 John and Henry were described as Hotel Keeper’s sons. By 1891 John was a Shoemaker and Henry and Annie had left home. In 1891 Alfred was shown as a Tailor’s Apprentice.
 
Alfred Camfield married Adelaide Harbron in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Hartlepool, County Durham on 1 August, 1898. Adelaide was born in 1867 in Hartlepool, so was 8 years older than Alfred. In 1901 they were living at 73, High Street, Hartlepool. Alfred was a tailor and Adelaide was working as a butcher shopkeeper. They had no children by this time. However, four of Adelaide’s brothers and sisters were living with them as well as a servant. They were Fred F 1877, John W 1879, Christopher 1885, Florence 1885. All were born in Hartlepool. Fred and John were working as Butcher’s Assistants and Christopher was a Grocer’s Apprentice.
 
By 1911 Alfred and Adelaide were living at 12 Albert Terrace, North Shields, Tynemouth, Northumberland. Alfred was still a Tailor but Adelaide was no longer a butcher. They now had three children: Thomas William 17/6/1901, Adelaide 16/2/1904, Adina Alfreda 16/7/1905. All were born in Hartlepool, suggesting they only moved to North Shields between 1906 and 1911.
 
An Electoral Roll from 1915 shows that Alfred was registered as living at 41 Flaxton Street, Hartlepool in Co. Durham by then.
 
However, Alfred enlisted at a Sapper in the 234th Company of the Royal Engineers on 17 August 1915. His address was given as 41 Flaxton Street and his occupation was given as a Tailor, described as “Very Good”. His age was given as 38, though he was, in fact, 40. He embarked for France on 7 March 1916. It seems that he had suffered illness or injury as he was admitted to hospital on 14/1/1917, returning to his unit on 22/2/1917. He then joined the 2nd Field Company on 22/8/1917. He was admitted to hospital again on 10/12/1918. He seems to have then been transferred to the Cambridge Hospital at Aldershot on 14/1/1919 suffering from Influenza. He only remained there until 17/1/19.  He was transferred to the reserves on 14/2/1919.
 
He returned home to Hartlepool and in 1921 he and Adelaide were still living at 41, Flaxton Street, West Hartlepool. Alfred was now working as a labourer at the Central Marine Engine Works. All three children were still living at home. Thomas was working as a Clerk at the Central Marine Engine Works; Adelaide was working as a Domestic Servant in Colwyn Road and Adina was working as a Collector for Mr Metcalf, Window Cleaner.
 
However, it seems that around this time Alfred and Adelaide Camfield separated. An Electoral Roll from 1922 suggests that Adelaide Camfield was still living at 41 Flaxton street, West Hartlepool – but that Alfred was no longer present. This is the same year as Leslie Camfield was born.

Leslie’s Mother and Family

It is understood that Ethel Evelyn White was Leslie’s mother, though no marriage to Alfred Camfield has been discovered and neither has Leslie’s birth record.
 
Ethel was born on 17 August 1888 in Stantonbury, Bradwell, Buckinghamshire. Her parents were James Norton and Sarah Elizabeth White. Her father was a cabinet maker. James was born around 1850 in Doncaster. Sarah was born around 1850 in Boughton in Nottinghamshire. They appear to have had children as follows: Mary 1877 (died 1883), Fanny 1878, Clara 1879, Ernest J 1881, Ellen 1883, Elsie 1887, Ethel 1888, Clarice L 1891, Eva 1894. Fanny and Clara were born in Doncaster and the others in Stantonbury, Bucks., suggesting they had moved to Stantonbury from Doncaster between 1889 and 1881.
 
In 1891 the family were living at 2, Wood Street, Bradwell, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. They were still in Buckinghamshire in 1896 when Ethel was baptised some years after her birth. They were living in Wolverton, near Newport Pagnell at that time. By 1901 they had moved to 14, Commercial Place, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. By 1901 the three eldest children had left home.
 
Ethel White married Edgar Liversidge in Huddersfield in 1907. Edgar was an Iron Planer born in Huddersfield in 1885.  They had two children, both in Huddersfield: George Reginald (known as Reg) in 1909 and Eric in 1912. In 1911 they were living at 18 Deadmanstone, Berry Brow, Huddersfield, Almondbury, Yorkshire. Reg wasn’t with them at the time. Instead, he was living with Edgar’s parents, George and Mary Liversidge, at Marion Street, Fartown, Huddersfield. George was the caretaker at the Wesleyan Chapel at Almondbury. Their own 22 year old son, Arthur, was also present.
 
However, five years later, tragedy was to strike this family. It seems that Ethel Liversidge had been seeing other men. At that time they were living at 110 Kaye Lane, Almondbury. In June 1916 Edgar had a further disagreement with his wife regarding another man and his little boy. He returned to his parents’ house at 12 Clara St, Huddersfield taking young Reg with him, presumably leaving Eric with Ethel. On Saturday 5 August Edgar had had words again with his wife. The following morning he was very depressed and asked his mother what he should do. She replied: “Go onto your knees, lad, and pray for strength to see you through it”. He then said: “Mother, I could not live through it.” That evening, his parents took the little boy with them to Chapel, leaving Edgar at home on his own. On returning at 8:15pm, his mother found her son hanging from a hook in the cellar with a rope round his neck. The rope was loosened and the doctor tried artificial respiration without success. At an inquest into his death the Coroner said that: “The trouble had affected the man physically and also mentally. The jury might be satisfied that the man had been driven to desperation and at the time had not the full power of his mind.” A verdict of suicide whilst of unsound mind was returned.
 
His family believe that Reg remained with his grandparents until his Grandmother died in 1918. By 1921 he had been unofficially adopted by Walter and Lucy Kendall who were living along with their 40 year old daughter Annie at 20, Lister Street, Moldgreen, Dalton, Yorkshire. Later, he lived with Annie, her sister Emily and her husband Jim in Ainley Top, Huddersfield. Reg married Florence Lawton in 1931 in Huddersfield and became a sought after Theatre Organist. His descendants never knew of his tragic family history until after his son’s death in 2001.
 
Ethel went on to marry Peter JB Neilson in Hartlepool in Q3 1919. However, there was a report in the Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail of 16 May 1919 indicating that a Peter Nielsen alias Joseph Barnard and referred to as “Danish Peter” was in court for taking money by false pretences. He was also given two month’s hard labour for failing to notify the police of a change of address as he was a convict out on licence.
 
It seems that this marriage did not go well as, in 1921, Ethel Evelyn Nielson was living at 22, High Street, Hartlepool, Durham in the household of widowed Clarice Lois Smith. This was Ethel’s sister. Clarice had three of her own children present (born between 1910 and 1920) as well as her sister Ethel (described as married); Eric Liversidge, her nephew, Ronald White (another nephew) and Stanley Evelyn Camfield born 1921 in Hartlepool and again described as Clarice’s nephew.  Eric’s father was shown as dead, Ronald’s mother was dead and Stanley’s parents were both alive. Ethel worked at making Hand Button Holes but was out of work at the time. It may be that Ethel’s work brought her into contact with Alfred Camfield as he was a tailor.
 
Stanley E Camfield also appears in birth records as Stanley E Liversidge – though, clearly, he was not the son of Edgar Liversidge who had died in 1916. It seems he was the child of Alfred Camfield and Ethel who had been born while Alfred Camfield was still living with his wife.
 
Ethel’s son, Eric Liversidge seems to have joined the Royal Artillery in 1930 (Service No. 816340). He was transferred to the reserves on 7 July 1946. He had married a widow of a Coldsrteam Guardsman, Winifred N Heald (nee Child) in 1941. They had two children, both in Leeds, Graham R 1941 and Leslie M 1947. However, Eric Liversidge died in 1955. His widow went on to marry Isaac J Moll, the widower of Leslie Camfield’s sister Doreen, so the three sons by their previous marriages were brought up together, but with little memory of either Doreen or Eric.

Adelaide Camfield and Children after her Separation from Alfred Camfield

Electoral Rolls from 1922 to 1926 show that Adelaide Camfield was still living at 41 Flaxton street, West Hartlepool – but that Alfred was no longer present. They did show that Thomas William Camfield was living with her, presumably now of voting age. It may be that Adelaide (Jun) and Adina were also present but wouldn’t be shown on an Electoral Roll.
 
Adelaide Camfield (Jun) married Harry Elmey in Hartlepool in 1925. Harry Elmey was living in Kingston Upon Hull at a variety of addresses from at least 1926. It is likely that his wife was with him throughout. In 1926 he was at 1 Crompton Villas, Alexandra and then 6 Caughey Street, Paragon Ward. In 1927 and 1928 he was at 126 Newstead Street, Newland Ward, Sculcoates. In 1929 he was at 101 Albert Avenue, North Newington and Adelaide Elmey was certainly present. In 1930 and 1931 they were both at 137 Blenheim Terrace, Newland, Sculcoates. Adelaide Camfield was also with them. Harry seems to have been a musician – both playing the trombone and teaching music. This is mentioned in various Hull Daily Mail issues from 1931-34.
 
Harry and Adelaide had three children: Harold K 1928, Valerie 1933 and Howard 1936. The first two were born in the Sculcoates area of Hull and Howard in Oxford. They had clearly moved from Hull to Oxford between 1933 and 1936. Harry Elmey died in early 1939 in Oxford. It seems that he had been invited to play at the New Theatre in Oxford – but contracted Appendicitis which turned into Peritonitis from which he died. Adelaide was left with three young children. However, a Clergyman who was a friend of the family ensured that they had a house in New Marston in which to live.
 
In 1928 Thomas William Camfield was living at 19 Fairford Terrace, Hunslet, Leeds. At the same address was Elizabeth Cordingley. In 1929 Thomas was at the same address and so too were Adelaide Camfield and Adina Camfield. Elizabeth Cordingley was still present.
 
Thomas W Camfield married Edith M Middleton in Leeds South in late 1929. Electoral Rolls from then to 1931 show that Thomas and Edith were living at 22 Brown Lane, Holbeck. Anice Middleton was also present. They had a son, Thomas W Camfield, in Leeds South in 1934 but he died in infancy.
 
In 1931 Adina Alfreda Camfield was living at 8 Thornville Ave, Hyde Park. Only she was present.
 
Adina A Camfield married Duke R Dobing in Leeds North in 1932. They had two children: Sylvia H 1935 Leeds North,  Duke H 1947 Brentford, Middlesex.
 
In 1939 Adina Dobing (born 16 July 1905) was living at 58 Allenby Drive, Leeds. She was married but her husband wasn’t present. A closed record suggests the presence of a child, presumably Sylvia Dobing. In the same household was Adelaide Camfield born 10 Jan 1867 – described as Incapacitated; Adelaide Emley (born 16 Feb 1904) who was widowed and working as a Tailoress (Buttoner) and her son Howard Emley born 21 Mar 1936. It isn’t known where her other two children or Adina’s husband were at this time.
 
It therefore seems that Adelaide Camfield had moved from Hartlepool sometime after 1926 and was living in Leeds with her son Thomas in 1929, but after he married, she moved to Hull to live with her daughter Adelaide Elmey in 1930 and 1931. Harry and Adelaide Emley moved to Oxford  between 1934 and 1936 – but by 1939 Adelaide was widowed and she, her son and her mother were now living in Leeds with her sister Adina Dobing. Adina Dobing had her second child in 1947 in Brentford Middlesex suggesting she had moved there by then.
 
Adelaide Camfield died in Oxford in 1945.
 
Thomas W Camfield died on 8 Oct 1953. His address for probate was given as 4 Allenby Gardens Leeds 11. His wife, Edith Mary Camfield, administered his estate.
 
Adelaide Elmey (born 16/1/1904) died in Oxford in 1974.
 
Adina Alfreda Dobing (born 16/7/1905) died in 1994 in Ealing.

From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records
Ancestry – Electoral Rolls for Ethel and Alfred Camfield and Military Records for Alfred Camfield
Service Record for Leslie Camfield from the National Archives WO 423/508404
Lincolnshire Regiment War Diaries via Traces of War Website
Wikipedia – information on the Lincolnshire Regiment & Sherwood Foresters
Hull Daily Mail
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail of 16 May 1919
Leeds Mercury 08 August 1916
Assistance from three great granddaughters of Alfred and Ethel Camfield (Jane Withers, Susan Middleditch and Julie Pilling); assistance from two great granddaughters of Edgar and Ethel Liversidge (Anne Edwards and Alison Liversidge); photos and assistance from a grandson of Alfred and Adelaide Camfield (Duke H Dobing).

Research Elaine Gathercole