Edward Lloyd; Private, 62nd Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps

Edward Lloyd was born on 26th May 1888 in Melton. In 1911, his occupation was a general labourer and he lived with his parents in Wilford Place in Melton. By the following year, he had moved to London and was working at the Tooting Bec Mental Hospital.

On 7th September 1914, just a month after war was declared, Edward enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). It wasn’t until 24th July 1915 though, that Edward was posted to France with the 62nd Field Ambulance. The field ambulance proceeded to Southampton where they boarded the troopship Connaught for the journey across the channel to Le Havre.

In August 1915, the field ambulance was based at Vieux Brequin in Northern France near to the Belgium border when, on the 11th, Edward was involved in an accident which broke his collarbone. After initial treatment by his colleagues, he was sent to the No.2 General Hospital at Quai D’Escales near Le Havre. Once fully recovered, he returned once more to the 62nd Field Ambulance.

Edward remained with the field ambulance for the rest of the war and was involved in many of the actions during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and the Third Battle of Ypres (or Passchendaele) in 1917. Over Christmas 1917, Edward was on home leave and, on 24th December, he married Marguerite Weight in Mitcham, Surrey. On his return in 1918, the 62nd Field Ambulance was present at actions during the German Spring Offensive and the First Battles of the Somme. They were also in action at the Battle of the Sambre, one of the final events of the war. For his war service, Edward received the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals.

Once Edward was discharged from the RAMC, he and his wife Marguerite set up home in Mitcham, Surrey where in 1923 he qualified as a mental nurse. In 1939, Edward was still working at Tooting Bec Mental Hospital. He died on 8th January 1943.