This site commemorates the men and women of Collingham, Linton and Micklethwaite who served during World War 1.
Vause, Louis George
(1901-1962)
 

Rank and Unit at End of World War One

Rank Boy

Service Number 158369

Service RAF

Unit

Regiment Royal Air Force

Pre-war Occupation*/marital status**

Trade or Occupation pre-war: Stockroom Assistant
Marital status: Single


* Taken from attestation papers or 1911 census
** Marital status on enlistment or at start of war
Connection with Collingham, Linton or Micklethwaite and reason for inclusion on this web site
  • Lived in Collingham, Linton or Micklethwaite immediately prewar or during the war

Biography

Family background

Louis (sometimes Lewis) George Vause was born on the 7th January 1901. At that time his parents Lewis George Vause and Rebecca Hadlock had not yet married, and Louis (Jnr) appears on the 1911 census as Louis George Hadlock. But by 1911, his parents had married (in 1903) and his brothers and sisters were named Vause. It seems that Louis (Jnr) changed his name after 1911 to Vause as ever other record we have found for him names him as Vause.

In 1911 the family were living at 14 Bentley Grove, Meanwood in Leeds. Lewis (Snr) was a manager for a shoddy manufacturer while Louis' (Jnr's) sisters, Martha and Mary, and brothers, Reginald and James Edwin, were at school. Also living in the house was a general domestic servant. In 1911, shoddy had not yet taken on the meaning of sub-standard goods, and shoddy was used as the name of a type of woollen yarn produced by tearing old woollen rags into shreds and weaving the strands, sometimes with the addition of some new wool, to make a cloth, also known as shoddy.

Sometime between 1911 and 1917, the Vause family moved to Collingham.

Service record

Being born in 1901, Louis (Jnr) was of an age that we would not have expected him to have served in the Great War, however on the 18th December 1917 Louis (Jnr) enlisted as a Boy in the Royal Flying Corps with a service number of 158369. He gave his next of kin as his father, Louis George Vause of Woodbank, Collingham Bridge, and his occupation as a stockroom assistant. On enlistment Louis (Jnr) was posted to the Special Transit Holding Camp (STHC). On the 1st April 1918, the Royal Air Force was formed and Louis transferred from the Royal Flying Corps to the newly formed RAF. Louis remained at the STHC until the 23rd April 1918 when he was posted to 8 Training Depot Station (8 TDS). War ended on the 11th November 1918 while Louis was at 8 TDS but he remained in the RAF transferring to Chattis Hill Salvage Station RAF on the 19th June 1919. During that period, Louis (Jnr) had reached his 18th birthday, and on that day, 7th January 1919, his servce moved from being Boy's service to Man's service.

Louis finally was transferred to the RAF reserve on leaving the RAF on the 14th October 1919.

After the war

After discharge Louis (Jnr) returned to Yorkshire and from 1924 to 1927 he appears in the electoral rolls, living with his parents on Harewood Road, Collingham. He remains registered on the electoral rolls for Collingham in 1930 and 1931 at Woodbank, Collingham. Louis married Mary Thorpe in the Malton district in 1935, and by 1939 he has moved with Mary to Norton urban district in the East Riding of Yorkshire. His occupation in 1939 is stated as being a motor mechanic.

Our last record of Louis George Vause (of 8 Hetchell View, Bardsey) is a probate record showing that he died on the 21st April 1962 at Leeds General Infirmary.

Biography last updated 29 September 2021 00:11:21.


Sources

1911 Census. The National Archives. Class RG14 Piece 27086
First World War Airmen's Service Records. The National Archives (AIR79).

If you have any photographs or further details about this person we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact us via: alan.berry@collinghamanddistrictwararchive.info