JUST A MOTHER'S SON
AND SOMEONE'S DARLING

RIFLEMAN LEONARD ALFRED COLLIS

LONDON REGIMENT (QUEEN VICTORIA'S RIFLES)

1ST JULY 1916 AGE 26

BURIED: GOMMECOURT BRITISH CEMETERY NO 2, FRANCE


The mother was Laura Alice Collis and I am presuming that the 'someone' was Leonard Collis's wife, Mary Edith, who he had married on the 3 April 1915. However, by the time Mary Edith, Leonard's next-of-kin, came to chose his inscription she had married again and was now Mrs Hallifax. I can't tell whether Leonard's father was still alive.
According to his army number, Leonard joined up sometime between 10 February and 5 April 1915. He served with the 9th Battalion the London Regiment and was killed in action on 1 July 1916 in the London Division's diversionary attack at Gommecourt.