| Surname: | Lelliott |
| Initials: | A H |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Army Number: | P/5 |
| Notes: | MMP. 26 Division. From Guilford. Later A/SSM. Awarded the 1915 Star, Victory and War Medals. First served abroad (1) France, 20/7/1915 to 11/11/18. Discharged class Z reserve 7/6/1919. Info from Pension Index Cards:- Lelliott, Arthur H, MMP, P/5, 7/6/19 to discharge, SFJ.5295, Stamp: Ad, 2/7/20, at 6/6 from 28/3/20 to 29/3/21, Chelsea No. SZ/Misc/3317, received 3/7/20. Ref: 10/12/19, Z/Misc/3317, PPS 59831. Also:- Lelliott, Arthur Henry MMP, P/5, Chelsea states man has two awards MVO.2623 and Z/Misc/3317, notify group when same arrive. Arthur Henry Lelliott. Extract from the Surrey Advertiser 10 November 1915. SOME WAR LETTERS. FIGHTERS' APPEAL TO ELIGIBLE MEN. Squadron Sergt. Major A. H. Lelliott, of the Military Mounted Police, who before the war was one of the officers at the Guildford Workhouse, has sent an interesting letter to a friend in the town giving a vivid picture of the battle of September 25th. he says that the work of the Military Mounted Police is of a very dangerous nature, the duties continually taking them under heavy shell fire. Coming to September 25th, he says: "I was in the siege of Ladysmith during the South African war and I can honestly say that I heard and saw more heavy gun fire on the morning of September 25th than I heard during the whole of the South African war. It was simply "Hell" itself: and by far the greatest battel of the war. The earth shook under us with the vibration of the guns. The attack took place at 6 a.m. in the greyness of the early dawn. The infantry lay in the trenches in feverish excitement. They could hardly be held in their trenches. All is now ready. There is a mysterious silence. The general order to advance was passed along the line an in an instant our men, with fixed bayonets, were over the parapets and into the German trenches, giving the Germans a taste of British steel." After describing the strength of the German trenches, the writer says: "If only men could see the once peaceful and happy homes here, somewhere in France, which have been wrecked and brought to a heap of ruins by the Huns' shells, the once beautiful churches, which were such a pride to the French people now level with the ground and lying like a heap of scrap iron and could hear the stories we hear, day after day, of the way in which the women and children and their homes have had to suffer at the hands of the Germans. I am sure no Englishman worthy of the name, if fit and eligible, could conscientiously hang back. Don't let it be said after the greatest war that the world has ever known that any young Guildfordian kept the company of a 'shirker.' It is very unfair for the mon out here now, who are enduring such indescribable hardships, to think men at home who are fit and eligible to fight, need so much asking to come forward. |
Decoration Record: | |
| Decoration: | Meritorious Service Medal (London Gazette: 30750 Page: 7155 June 17, 1918) |
| Citation: | MMP. France. 26 Division. From Guilford. Later A/SSM. On the 28th, 29th and 30th March, 1918, for thirty-six hours continuously, the above mentioned NCO's rendered invaluable services in keeping in the line and taking back into the line, stragglers of several Divisions, scattered by heavy shell fire coming down at the time.This work was carried out at great personal risk, under very heavy shell fire and exceptionally difficult circumstances, with an untiring energy and devotion to duty which were above all praise. There is no doubt that by their bravery and energy A/SSM Lelliot, Sergts. Taylor and Ashdown kept the line before Domart supplied with valuable reinforcements, which may have averted very serious consequences.Recommended MM by APM 20th Division. (Page 86 The History of the Office of the Provost Marshall and the Corps of Military Police, By Capt A Vaughan Lovell-Knight, July 1943). |