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John Henry LanningJohn Henry Lanning, the son of George Lanning and Elizabeth Way née Gibbs, was born on 18 September 1886, in Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, where his parents were in service. In 1901 John was a grocer's clerk in Egham, but he had moved to Walk Lane (Whitminster Lane), Frampton, by 1911 when he was a domestic chauffeur, possibly for the Teesdale family of nearby Whitminster House. On 6 July the same year he married Ethel Ross Graham in Egham. Their two children, Barbara Florence and Joan Emily, were born prior to the start of the war.
Enlisting at Reading on 22 October 1914, John served in the Army Service Corps as a private, initially with the 2nd Mounted Division Supply Column, and then with 273 Company ASC of the 21st Division Supply Column. On 4 September 1915 he moved with his unit from Southampton aboard the Viper, arriving at Rouen, France, the next day. As part of the 21st Division Supply Column he was employed as a lorry driver, and earned a Good Conduct badge on 9 November 1916. John was allowed home leave on three occasions during his service: 26 December 1916 to 5 January 1917, 28 January to 11 February 1918 (after which he was detained in the Christian Military Hospital at Englefield Green until 1 March) and 10-24 October 1918 (which was extended to 31 October). His Army records state that he was sober and reliable. His unit had become the 21st Division Mechanical Transport Company and although on enlistment he had given his wife's address (as next-of-kin) as that of her parents in Egham, his address for pay prior to discharge was Walk Lane. He was placed in Priority Group 26 for discharge; on 2 May 1919 at No. 1 Dispersal Unit, Crystal Palace, he was given 28 days' paid leave, and on 30 May transferred to the Army Reserve. John was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory Medals but his war service is not commemorated on the plaque in the village hall. Although John was listed as an absent voter at Walk Lane in 1918-19, he appears to have left the Frampton area immediately afterwards. John Henry Lanning of Egham died on 17 August in 1951. |