582036 Serjeant
R. H. CROPLEY
The Royal Norfolk Regiment
9th December 1941 Age 31
CROPLEY, ROBERT HENRY
Rank:……………………...Serjeant
Service No:…………….5825036
Date of Death:……….09/12/1941
Age:………………………..31
Regiment:………………Royal Norfolk Regiment
……………………………....9th Bn.
Grave Reference:…..Sec. M. Grave 112.
Cemetery:
LOWESTOFT (BECCLES ROAD) CEMETERY
Additional Information:
Son of Thomas and Edith Cropley, of Lowestoft; husband of Ruby Frances Cropley, of Lowestoft.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2720866/CROPLEY,%20RO...
The Army Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 records that Serjeant 5825036 Robert H Cropley died on the 9th December 1941 whilst serving in the UK with the Royal Norfolk Regiment. He was born Suffolk and resident Norwich.
1910 – Birth
The birth of a Robert H Cropley was recorded in the Mutford District of Suffolk in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1910. (Mutford district included Lowestoft and the nearby villages).
1911 Census of England and Wales
The 5 month old Robert Henry Cropley, born Suffolk, was recorded living at 31 Factory Street, Lowestoft. This was the household of his parents “Tomas Samuel”, (aged 28 and a Drift Net Deep Sea Fisherman, born Lowestoft) and Edith Louisa, (aged 24 and born Lowestoft). The couple have been married 4 years and have had three children, all then still alive and living with them. The other two are Edith Hannah Elizabeth, (4) and Lily Maud, (1) – both born Lowestoft.
Tomas’ sister, Ethel Mary Cropley, aged 22 and single, a drift net repairer from Lowestoft, was also living with them.
Checking back, the marriage of a Thomas Samuel Cropley to an Edith Louisa Tuttle was recorded in the Mutford District in the April to June quarter, (Q2), of 1906.
Post August 1911 it had become compulsory when registering the birth of a child with the Civil Authorities in England and Wales to also record the mothers maiden name. A check of the General Registrars Office Index of Births for England and Wales produces four possible additional children of Thomas and Edith – all registered in the Mutford District with the surname Cropley, mothers maiden name Tuttle.
Thomas C……..Q2 1913
Gladys I……….Q3 1914
Oliver S……….Q1 1916
Ernest W………Q1 1916.
Family in the Great War
There are Royal Naval Reservist Service records for a Thomas Samuel Cropley, service number ES 3752, born Lowestoft 16th November 1883, held at the National Archive under reference BT 377/7/133161
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8667360
Engineman 3752/ES Thomas Samuel Cropley of the Royal Naval Reserve, aged 34 and the husband of Edith Louisa Cropley, of 31, Factory St., Lowestoft, was killed in the air raid at the Naval Base at Chatham on the night of the 3rd/4th September.
(More details here)
www.merseysiderollofhonour.co.uk/obits/ships/pembroke.htm
www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1917-09Sep.htm
1939 Marriage?
The most likely candidate for the marriage is that of a Robert H Cropley to a Ruby F Chase in the Lothingland District in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1939.
During the second half of the thirties there was a major re-organisation of local government. As part of that, in 1935, Lothingland replaced Mutford as the Civil District for the purposes of registering Births, Deaths and Marriages in the Lowestoft area.
It may be a co-incidence but the birth of an Anthony R Cropley, mothers maiden name Chase, was recorded in the Norwich District in the July to September quarter, (Q3), of 1940.
His Unit
Three additional battalions were formed in 1939, the 8/30th , 9th and 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalions. The first two were initially made up of 1914-18 veterans. The 30th Bn served for a short period in North Africa and then from the end of 1942 to January 1946 in Sicily and Italy on garrison and guard duties.
www.rnrm.org.uk/history/history_ww2.html
The 8th Battalion was raised in 1939 alongside the 9th Battalion with many veterans of the Great War. Both battalions were used mainly to supply other battalions of the regiment which were overseas with reinforcements. Neither of these battalions saw service overseas and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war as part of the Home Forces with the 9th Battalion apparently being disbanded in August 1944 when its parent unit (25th Brigade attached to 47th (Reserve) Infantry Division) was disbanded.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Norfolk_Regiment
On the day
The death of a Robert H Cropley, aged 31, was recorded in the Norwich District in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1941.
Robert was buried on the 12th December 1941. Aged 31. The local council have put their cemetery records on-line. His occupation was recorded as “Sergeant Norfolk Regiment”, and his last address was 65 Beccles Road, Oulton Broad.
apps.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/pages/cemeteries/Lowestoft/colman...
The Official Daily Casualty Listing records him as Died as a Result of an Accident.
There is no obvious Soldiers Will or Civil Probate for this man.
Postscript
There is no obvious subsequent marriage of a Ruby F Cropley in England and Wales.
The death of a Ruby Frances Cropley, born 20th June 1910, was recorded in the Great Yarmouth District of Norfolk in the January to March, (Q1), of 1982.
The 1982 Probate Calendar records that a Ruby Frances Cropley, of 51 Victoria Road, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft died 25th March 1982. Administration was granted at the Ipswich Court on the 8th June 1982.
probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar#calendar