Royal Air Force
Norman Edward Wingfield (probably known as Edward) was born on 17 January 1899 at Stonehouse, the son of Frederick William Wingfield (a brickmaker) and his wife Sarah Ann (school housekeeper), who lived at Regent Street, Stonehouse. They had five children, two of whom had died by the time of the 1911 Census.
Prior to military service Edward’s occupation was a clerk and/or storeman. He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 24 September 1918, age 19, for the duration of the war and became a clerk with them. It was perhaps an indication of the paucity of military recruits at this stage of the war that Edward was recruited with the medical classification of B2, due to his being ‘knock knee and flat foot’.
Having initially being placed at the Recruitment Centre, Norman (according to his Service Record at the National Archives AIR 79/2598/297782) was posted to ‘5 SD’ on 5 October 1918. This was probably an establishment based in the London area.
Sixteen days later, on 21 October 1918, he was admitted to 2nd London General Hospital and died six days later, on 27 October 1918, of pneumonia at New End Military Hospital, Hampstead, London NW3. Aged 19, his military career had lasted a mere 33 days.
He was laid to rest in Stonehouse (St Cyr) Churchyard Extension, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave.
The three surviving children at the time of the 1911 Census were all boys. The eldest son, Frederick William, served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the war and survived it. Another son, Victor John, served as a Private (66062) in the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) and was killed in action on 25 September 1917. He is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Ieper, Belgium. His death is commemorated on Edward’s headstone.
Researched by Graham Adams 29 March 2014