52692: Photograph of Private Cecil Leslie Morgan

Cecil Morgan was born 22 April 1899 in Bermondsey. He left school in 1912 and was indentured as an apprentice Cooper on 5th May 1913.

12 April 1917 - Cecil joined up at Rotherhithe Town Hall to fight in WW1 and was declared medically A1. As Private Morgan 42609, he was posted to the 47th Training Reserve Battalian and ordered to report to Horse Guards Parade Whitehall on 26 May 1917. He qualified as a Lewis Gunner and as a Stretcher Bearer. Initially assigned to the 3rd Norfolk regiment, Cecil was transferred to the 2nd Battalian Essex Regt in January 1918. He and 14 of his comrades were captured at La Bassee Canal on the night of April 18 1918 (just four days before his 19th birthday), by German Machine Gun Corps at 9.30 pm. He survived captivity and returned home, ill with dysentry in December 1918.