Remembering Sergeant Tommy Marston MM**
There were many, many men who served in WW1 and died of their wounds or illnesses after the war ended. Unfortunately, those who passed away after 31st August 1921 were not eligible for inclusion on Rolls of Honour – such as the Loughborough Carillon – or for a white headstone from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
War Graves Week runs this year from 16th to 24th May and is a good time to remember Loughborough man Sergeant Thomas Marston, the recipient of the Military Medal and 2 bars. He fully deserves recognition but as he died in June 1922, after the ‘cut-off’ date, he was not officially commemorated at the time of his death.
He was born in Thorpe Acre at the beginning of 1883, to farm labourer Joseph Marston and his wife Hannah, one of seven children. Tommy married Mary Smedley in 1907 and they had three daughters and a son. Before the war Tommy worked as a drayman for the Midland Brewery, handling the horse-drawn wagons.
He volunteered in 1915, joining the 2nd/5th Royal Leicestershire Regiment, regimental number 241289, reaching the rank of sergeant. His first active engagement was in Dublin, suppressing the Easter Rising. He was posted to the Western Front in February 1917.
A regimental photo shows him to be a conspicuously tall man, standing well above his comrades. He was also apparently a likeable man, contrary to the conventional reputation of the aggressive, foul-mouthed army sergeant.
Tommy served for the rest of the war. On 21st November 1917 he was awarded the Military Medal, awarded to other ranks for bravery. His action was to storm a pillbox and turn the gun on the enemy who then surrendered, with 30 prisoners taken. This was part of the 3rd Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as Passchendaele, which became a byword for slaughter on an industrial scale.
His citation states: “He encouraged his men by his cool demeanour and tireless energy in organisation of the line.”
In February 1918 his unit was disbanded and he was posted to the 1st/5th Royal Leicestershire Regiment (number 3612) where he distinguished himself again on 24th September attacking a machine gun position. For this he was awarded his first bar for “Conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Pontruet Village,” and a second bar on 9th October for “Conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack at Fresnoy Le Grand railway station and conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack on Riquerval Wood.” He was also mentioned in despatches.
His achievement of three Military Medals was outstanding. He was one of only 129 soldiers with this level of decoration. Tommy’s medals are on display at the Tigers Museum in Leicester.
At some point during his Army service, Tommy Marston had been gassed. This had lasting effects on his health. He could have suffered respiratory problems, damage to his eyesight, skin ailments, cancer. All these were typically experienced by soldiers who had been gassed and whose life expectancy was diminished. After the war he returned to his old job with the Midland Brewery, but died on 10th June 1922, aged 38; a family man who should have been in the prime of his life.
Sergeant Marston was buried in Loughborough Cemetery, his grave unmarked and unnoticed until 2017. The Royal Leicestershire Regiment’s historian located it and the regiment funded a plot with a headstone commemorating this decorated serviceman. The headstone reflects the design of the classic CWGC white Portland stone ones, but is in black marble. A memorial service was held, attended by family descendants, with Tommy’s great great grandson proudly wearing the medals.
Tommy’s son Thomas Joseph, born in 1916, was also a distinguished serviceman, serving as RSM with the Royal Leicestershire Regiment in Palestine, in WW2, Korea and during the Cyprus Emergency. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and in 1958, the MBE. He died in 2002.
Thomas Marston, MM**, 1883 – 1922
