John's Story.
Private John Lea was killed in action on 16th May 1915. He was twenty three years old.
John was born in Sandbach, in the summer of 1891. He was the son of James Thomas Lea (1856–1935) and Ann Bolderston (1857–1931), and brother to Sarah Annie (1879–1941), Maud (1881–1952), Gertrude Elizabeth (1883–1952), James (1885–1886), Minnie (1887–1946), Ada Mary (1890–1933), Thomas (1893–1895), Olive (1894–1980) and Frederick (1897–1977). His father was a farmer and corn miller, and in 1901, the family home was Sandbach Mill, on Mill Hill Lane. The 1911 census shows their address as 1 Houndings Lane, Sandbach, which was the same location. John, then aged 19, was working for his father as a waggoner for the corn mill. John's parents remained living at Mill House, Mill Lane, for the rest of their lives.
Photograph by Stephen Craven
John enlisted into the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment at Stoke on Trent. His brother Fred enlisted into the same regiment. The newspaper account names the battle in which he died as Richebourg, in France. He was reported missing on 15th May, and there was a rumour that he might have been taken prisoner. However, his parents were never given confirmation of this, and he was deemed to have been killed in action on 15th/16th May 1915.
John is remembered on the Le Touret Memorial, located near the former commune of Richebourg-l'Avoué, in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. The memorial lists 13,389 names of British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave. John's name is recorded on the family grave at St Mary's Churchyard in Sandbach. His brother Fred survived the war and lived to the age of 81. NB John's age is shown as 24, but he was in his 24th year.
NB John Lea is not connected to Corporal John William Lea, also of Sandbach, who died a week earlier, on 8th May 1915.
Researched by Shena Lewington (October 2026)
John was born in Sandbach, in the summer of 1891. He was the son of James Thomas Lea (1856–1935) and Ann Bolderston (1857–1931), and brother to Sarah Annie (1879–1941), Maud (1881–1952), Gertrude Elizabeth (1883–1952), James (1885–1886), Minnie (1887–1946), Ada Mary (1890–1933), Thomas (1893–1895), Olive (1894–1980) and Frederick (1897–1977). His father was a farmer and corn miller, and in 1901, the family home was Sandbach Mill, on Mill Hill Lane. The 1911 census shows their address as 1 Houndings Lane, Sandbach, which was the same location. John, then aged 19, was working for his father as a waggoner for the corn mill. John's parents remained living at Mill House, Mill Lane, for the rest of their lives.
Photograph by Stephen Craven
John enlisted into the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment at Stoke on Trent. His brother Fred enlisted into the same regiment. The newspaper account names the battle in which he died as Richebourg, in France. He was reported missing on 15th May, and there was a rumour that he might have been taken prisoner. However, his parents were never given confirmation of this, and he was deemed to have been killed in action on 15th/16th May 1915.
John is remembered on the Le Touret Memorial, located near the former commune of Richebourg-l'Avoué, in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. The memorial lists 13,389 names of British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave. John's name is recorded on the family grave at St Mary's Churchyard in Sandbach. His brother Fred survived the war and lived to the age of 81. NB John's age is shown as 24, but he was in his 24th year.
NB John Lea is not connected to Corporal John William Lea, also of Sandbach, who died a week earlier, on 8th May 1915.
Researched by Shena Lewington (October 2026)