Thank you to Jane Anthony for the following research.
Born in about 1883 in Shere, the third of six sons of Albert, a wheelwright, and Emily. Both parents were also born locally. In the 1901 census he was working as a baker’s journeyman and living in Gomshall. By 1911 he had married Jessie and was living in Abinger Hammer and working as a grocer and baker, their daughter Evelyn aged six months.
Leonard arrived in France on 30th November 1916, as a replacement so had no choice in which unit he was sent to, hence he ended up with the 10th Royal Fusiliers, many of the original men of the battalion would have either been casualties by this point, or given their education been commissioned for the duration of the war. As a married man and a father her was initially exempt from enlisting, but this was to change in early 1916 due to the shortage of manpower.
He was killed on the first day of The 2nd Battle of The Scarpe (Arras) when the 63rd Naval Division took Gavrelle. The action on Vimy Ridge took place on 9th April 1917 when The Canadian Corps took the ridge, indeed the first day of the battle was a resounding success, before the offensive became bogged down. Although a relatively short battle compared to The Somme in 1916 and 3rd Ypres later that year, The BEF lost more men per day than they did during The Somme or 3rd Ypres, despite this it remains a relatively unknown battle.
Leonard Cumper is commemorated as being a member of the Loyal Tillingbourne Lodge at Oddfellows Hall.
PTE. L. CUMPER (Royal Fusiliers)
Oddfellows in the Dorking District will hear with sincere regret of the death in action of Pte. Leonard Cumper, Royal Fusiliers, and will greatly sympathise with the widow and her two young children. Pte. Cumper, whose home was at High View, Gomshall, fell during the recent action near Arras. He was in the battle leading up to the taking of Vimy, and said in a letter home he wrote that he was one of the lucky ones to come through, adding : “Now it all seems a bad dream,
and I want to forget it.” He was 33 years of age, and the third son of Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Cumper of Tower Hill Villa, Goose Green, Gomshall. Before joining the Army, Cumper carried on business as a baker at Abinger Hammer. He became a member of the “Tillingbourne” Lodge, I. O. O. F., M.U., early in 1903, and when the late secretary was called up he succeeded to that office. He served the office of Deputy Grand Master of the District last year, and was elected Provincial Grand Master of the District at the annual meeting of the “Prince of Wales” Lodge in June, 1915, although, being on active service, he never took on the duties. Mr. and Mrs. Cumper have four other sons serving, three in the Army and one in the Navy.
Leonard Cumper Death Notice 19th May 1917 © Dorking Advertiser findmypast.co.uk
| Born | Shere, Surrey | |
| Lived | Abinger Hammer, Surrey | |
| Son of | Albert and Emily Cumper | |
| Husband of | Jessie Cumper | |
| Regiment | 10th Battalion. Royal London Regiment | |
| Number | 43614 | |
| Date of Death | 23rd April 1917 | |
| Place of Death | Arras, France | |
| Cause of Death | Killed in Action | |
| Age | 34 | |
| Memorial | Chili Trench Cemetery near Gavrelle |
