Biography

Family background

Leslie Duffield Howarth was born on the 21st April 1911 in Leeds. His parents were Robert Rolleston Howarth and Jenny Howarth (nee Firth). In early 1911 Robert and Jenny were living at 15 Luxor Avenue, Harehills Road, Leeds where Robert was a grocer's clerk. Leslie was born soon after the census was taken, and the next decade was busy for the family with a move out of Leeds and a change of job for Robert. By census day in 1921 the family were living at West View in East Keswick and Robert was described as working for Hervey A. Lane and Company, Provision Importers of 23 Corn Exchange, Leeds as a traveller for the American Provision Packing House. Also during the decade, Robert and Jenny's family had grown with the addition of Leslie's younger sisters, Alice Howarth and Eileen Rolleston Howarth.

For the Howarth family, the 1920s were spent living at West View, East Keswick and then Elm Bank, East Keswick before a move in the early 1930s (around 1932-3) to their first recorded mention in Collingham, at Croft Dene, Collingham. In 1934, Robert, Jenny and the now 23 year old Leslie appear on the Collingham electoral roll at 3 South View, Collingham. Numbers 3 and 4 South View in Collingham becomes the family's long term residence as we will see.

Leslie lived in Collingham until about 1936, when he married Margaret Dobson, interestingly the marriage taking place in Pancras, Middlesex. Our next trace of Leslie and Margaret appears to be in 1939 electoral roll in Lancashire when they were living at 15 Oakwood Drive, Fulwood, Fylde. By the 1939 National Registration, Leslie and Margaret are still living at 15 Oakwood Drice where Leslie is recorded as working as a bank clerk while Margaret was a housewife.

In 1939 Leslie would have been 28 years old and would have become eligible for military service.

Service record

Leslie Duffield Howarth enlisted in the British Army on the 22nd May 1940 and was posted to the 22nd Medium and Heavy Training Regiment of the Royal Artillery with a service number of 983903. After training, Leslie was posted to an active unit, the 65th (Highland) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, but the Royal Artillery Tracer Card is not clear when he joined that unit. However we know that he was with 65 Med Reg RA on the 23rd June 1944, not long after D-Day, as his tracer card shows him being transferred to the X(ii) list on that day, and the Army Casualty list records Acting Lance Bombadier L.D. Howarth, (983903) of the 65 Med Regt. RA was wounded on the 23rd June 1944.

For the D-Day invasion of Normandy, 65 Med Regt RA was part of 4th Army Group, Royal Artillery in 21st Army Group. 65 Medium Regiment assembled around Brentwood and were loaded onto Landing Ship Tanks (LST) at Tilbury Docks on the 3rd June 1944. The LSTs sailed on 6 and 7 June and assembled off Southend before sailing to the Isle of Wight and crossing the channel to land in France at Juno beach on the 8th June near Courselles sur Mer. They moved towards Coleville sur Orne and supported 51 Highland Division and 6 Airborne Division.

We do not know how serious Leslie's wounds were but on the 28th June he was transferred to the 'Y List', a list of those men rendered ineffective because of injury and who were evacuated to the UK for treatment, and it was only about 6 months later, on the 10th February 1945, that Leslie was posted back to the Royal Artillery to a depot for onward posting. That posting came on the 1st March 1945 when Leslie joined 175 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery. This was a holding division for reserves waiting to be posted back to front line troops.

However the war in Europe was coming to an end and on the 11th May 1945 Leslie was permanently attached to the staff of the London District Reception Depot, and he was discharged from the Army on the 1st December 1945.

After the war

By 1947, Leslie and Margaret were living again in Collingham, initially next door to his parents at 4 South View, Collingham, but later swapping houses to move back to 3 South View.

Leslie Duffield Howarth died in 1986.

Biography last updated 29 January 2025 13:20:22.