Lance-Corporal HERBERT LEWIS TONG

88, Lower Stockbridge Road, Winchester (11, Stockbridge Road today)
Service Number 23003. 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment
Died of wounds, France, 12 April 1917

Family Background

Herbert Lewis Tong was born on 8 January 1896 in the parish of St Peter’s Chesil, Winchester. He was the sixth surviving child of Edward and Louisa Tong. Edward Tong had been born in Rochester, Kent, in 1860. The next record found for Edward is his marriage on 26 March 1882 to Louisa Runyard at St Mark’s Church, Regent’s Park, London. Louisa had been born in 1862 and her family were from Wool, Dorset. In 1881, she was working as a servant to a wealthy London family.

Edward and Louisa’s first child, Stephen George, was born in Rochester in 1883. By the birth of Augustine Henry (Harry) in 1885, the family were living in Wimborne, Dorset, where Edward worked as a journeyman cabinetmaker. A third son, Arthur Edward, was born there in 1888. However, by November 1892, Edward had become a lay clerk at Winchester Cathedral and the couple’s subsequent known children were all born in the city - Edith May, their only daughter, in 1892, Herbert Lewis in 1896, Frank Percy in 1897 and Sidney James in 1899. There was another child, but it is not known when he or she was born or when they died. The Tongs come over as hard-working and aspirational.

By the 1901 Census, the family were living at 33, Bar End Road, Winchester (now No. 23), where Herbert, Edith, Frank and Sidney may have been born. Edward, still a lay clerk at Winchester Cathedral, further described his occupation as woodcarver. Their eldest son Stephen, by then 17, had followed in his father’s footsteps and was an apprentice cabinet maker. Harry, 14, was an architect’s clerk. Interestingly, Arthur, 13, was not at home on census night. He was recorded as boarding at 64/63 Kingsgate Street along with 15 other Winchester College quiristers (choristers). They would have been educated in a separate school within the College.

Edith, aged eight, and five-year-old Herbert were at school whilst Frank and Sydney were still at home. Herbert later went to All Saint’s Elementary School, Highcliffe, Winchester, before progressing to Peter Symonds Grammar School in September 1908 when he was nearly 13. Herbert was obviously a bright boy as his fees were paid for by the school’s governing body. However, he was not there for long as he left in April 1910 to be apprenticed to a pharmaceutical chemist, probably at Hunt’s the Chemist in Winchester High Street.

By 1911, most of the Tong family were living at 88, Lower Stockbridge Road, Winchester. The house was renumbered 11, Stockbridge Road in 1918 and it remains that today. (Sadly, it is currently the derelict property in the row of shops between Elm Road and Western Road.) In 1909, Edward had been promoted to be a virger (verger) at the cathedral. He would have had to work against the background of the upheaval created by the replacing of the foundations spearheaded by the diver William Walker. His wife was assisting in a tobacconist’s while Herbert had been a chemist’s apprentice for a year.

Of the other sons still at home, Harry, aged 25, was an architect’s assistant and 23-year-old Arthur was working as a clerk in the music warehouse Teague & King in Lower Minster Street. Herbert’s younger brother Frank had followed him to Peter Symonds in September 1910, also with the fees paid for by the governing body. He left on 19 July 1912, to become an apprentice at a piano warehouse. Later, he became a piano tuner, initially for Whitwams in Winchester. Sydney, 11, was still at school. There seems to have been a strong musical streak in the family as Herbert was the organist at St Lawrence’s Church in The Square from 1915.

Two of the Tong children had left home. The eldest, Stephen, had married and was living in Bournemouth with his wife Matilda and their three daughters. He had served his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker and was now earning a living making furniture. Meanwhile, Edith Tong, known as Edie, was boarding in a large hostel in Aldershot belonging to Thomas White & Co. Ltd, Military Outfitter. Edith’s occupation was described as a draper’s assistant.

In 1912 Arthur Tong, Herbert’s brother, married Grace Comber at St Matthew’s Church, Weeke. By the time that he enlisted in the Army in 1914 the couple already had one daughter and Grace was to give birth to a second in 1916, who lived to be 100.

Great War Reord

In 1916 Herbert joined the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment) in Winchester. It is not yet known exactly when he joined up or whether he volunteered or was conscripted. The 2nd Wiltshires were a Regular Army battalion who had deployed to France in October 1914 with 21st Brigade, part of 7th Division, and fought in the major battles of that year and 1915.

In December 1915, 21st Brigade was transferred to 30th Division which saw action on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme Offensive. The 2nd Wiltshires were in the line near the village of Maricourt, at the junction of the British and French armies. The objective of 21st Brigade was the village of Montauban which was defended by a series of enemy strongpoints and trench systems. Much of the German wire had been cut by the British artillery bombardment and the assault initially made good progress. However, a single machine-gun caused almost 100 casualties among the Wiltshires who were bringing up supplies. Despite this and other pockets of German resistance, 30th Division was able to achieve all its objectives on 1 July, one of the few British successes that day.

The 21st Brigade was quickly back in action, attacking Trones Wood, on 8 July. The 2nd Wiltshires again took heavy casualties, losing their CO wounded and his replacement killed. Just two weeks later, on 23 July, the battalion took part in an attack towards Guillemont before being taken out of the line for rest and refitting. They did not return to the front until 18 October when they attacked the German Gird Line trench system, north east of the village of Flers, at the Battle of Le Transloy. The Wiltshires forced their way into the trenches but were then nearly wiped out by enfilade fire.

Herbert Tong’s Medal Index Card does not state when he entered a theatre of war but, given that he had been promoted to Lance-Corporal by the time he died in April 1917, it is likely that he fought in at least one of the 2nd Wiltshires’ engagements on the Somme.

Herbert died on 12 April 1917 of wounds received during the First Battle of the Scarpe, the opening phase of the Arras Offensive (9 April-16 May 1917). On 9 April the 2nd Wiltshires had attacked the Hindenburg Line, a formidable German defensive position, and quickly came under heavy enemy artillery bombardment. The Wiltshire Regimental War Diary entry for that date stated:

At 11.38am the 21st Brigade attacked with the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment on their right … The distance between the battalion and their objective (the Hindenburg Line) varied between 2000 and 2500 yards. Considerable hostile shelling was experienced throughout the advance which became more intense as it proceeded. To reach the objective, two sunken roads had to be crossed where heavy machine-gun fire was encountered. The advance continued right up to the enemy wire by which time the ranks were considerably depleted. It was found that though damaged the wire was not cut sufficiently for the troops to enter the enemy trenches. Shelter was sought in available shell holes but finally the troops had to fall back to the sunken road running from Neuville Vitasse to St Martin sur Coseul where they dug in.

When the 2nd Wiltshires came out of the line on 11 April they had lost 16 officers and 363 other ranks killed, wounded and missing. It is believed that Herbert, who died the following day aged 21, was among the casualties.

Family after the Great War

Arthur Tong must have been in the Army Cadet Force before enlisting in 1914 as he had been awarded an Army Proficiency Certificate. He had married Grace Comber at St Matthew’s Church, Weeke, in 1912 and by the time he joined up he already had one daughter, Doris, who was then aged about one. The couple went on to have two other daughters, Phyllis (who lived to be 100) and Evelyn, and a son, Donovan. Arthur served as a Private in the Oxfordshire & Buckingham Light Infantry and fought in France. He was wounded on 28 October 1918. His address in 1921 was 12, Elm Road, Winchester.

Sydney, Herbert’s youngest brother, served in Italy with the RNAS. Both Harry and Sydney must still have been based at home as in 1921 their address was given as 11, Stockbridge Road, Winchester.

After Herbert’s death, his father Edward carved a wooden cross that was placed on his son’s temporary grave in France in October 1917. Affixed to this was a brass memorial plaque from Edward and Louisa. Today it is held by Herbert’s great nephew in Winchester.

In November 1925, Edward was promoted to Second Virger at Winchester Cathedral. The following year he retired, aged 65, on a pension of £60 a year. To mark his retirement, a photograph was taken of Edward with a maquette that he is believed to have carved and which would presumably have been used as a model by a stonemason in the cathedral.

After Edward’s retirement, he and Louisa went to live in Bournemouth with their daughter Edith and her husband William Sapsed who had married in Winchester in 1920. Sadly, the marriage did not last and by 1932 Edward and Louisa were living in Southampton. Edward died in Romsey in 1942 and Louisa in Winchester in 1947. Edith passed away in 1962.

On his parents’ move to Bournemouth, Arthur Tong moved from Elm Road with his wife Grace, two daughters and young son Donovan (Don) to take over the shop at 11, Stockbridge Road. By then it was a newsagent as well as a tobacconist and sweet shop. Don, who was born in 1923, had one wonderful memory of the shop. On the day that the refrigeration broke down, his parents allowed him to eat as much ice cream and ice lollies as he could manage!

Arthur Tong also had an interest in 7, Stockbridge Road as he is recorded in Warrens Directories as the householder there. (In Arthur’s time, and for many decades after, it was a hairdresser’s and is now the right-hand side of Pickards shop.) Arthur died in 1932, aged 44. Grace then took over running the shop on her own before she retired in 1953, at which point Norman Churchill took it over until the early 1990s. Grace went to live in a bungalow at 56, Stoney Lane, Weeke, next door to her son Don. Grace passed away in 1977 in Winchester.

In 1939 Herbert’s eldest brother Stephen and his wife Matilda were living at Uplands, Bereweeke Road, Winchester. He was working as a builder/joiner/machinist. Stephen died in 1959 and Matilda in 1982.

Harry Tong resumed his career as an architect after the war. He had married Amy Burton in Poole, Dorset, in October 1917. The 1921 Winchester War Register gives his address as 11, Stockbridge Road so perhaps initially they lived with his parents. They had two sons, both born in Winchester, Eric in 1919 and Raymond in 1922. By 1923, the family were living at 3, Battery Hill and by 1930 at 6, Eversley Place off Stanmore Lane. Harry was an accomplished organist and is believed to have played at St Paul’s Church, Fulflood. He died in Winchester in 1965 and Amy in 1982.

Harry had married Amy Burton in Poole, Dorset, in October 1917. The 1921 Winchester War Register gives his address as 11, Stockbridge Road so perhaps initially they lived with his parents. They had two sons, both born in Winchester, Eric in 1919 and Raymond in 1922. By 1923, the family were living at 3, Battery Hill and by 1930 at 6, Eversley Place off Stanmore Lane. Harry died in Winchester in 1965 and Amy in 1982.

Frank Tong continued his musical career after the war. In 1939 he was working as a pianoforte tuner and regulator and living in London with his wife Marjorie. The couple had married in Winchester in 1922 and had one son, Peter. After Marjorie’s death in 1942 Frank may have moved to Southampton to live with his mother as he died there in 1953.

Herbert’s youngest brother, Sidney, is remembered by the family as being a very clever man who ‘invented things’. He married Hilda Ballard (known as Margery) in January 1921. They did not have any children. At some stage, the couple moved to Dorset and both died within a few months of each other in 1980.

During the Second World War, Don Tong served with the RAF in Bomber Command. He married his wife Hazel at St Paul’s Church, Fulflood, in 1949 and later worked in the planning department at Winchester Rural District Council. Don used his planning expertise to design the family home, a bungalow at 26, Compton Way, Oliver’s Battery, Winchester, where the couple’s grandson (Herbert Tong’s great great nephew) was still living in 2022. Don also designed many other properties and extensions in the surrounding areas. He and Hazel were the parents of the late Janice Merritt who kindly helped with the compilation of this biography, and also of Sonia Wensley-Smith and Clive Tong. Don died in 2009 and Hazel in 2018.

Herbert Tong is listed in the Winchester War Service Register.

Medals and Memorials for Herbert Lewis Tong

Lance-Corporal Herbert Lewis Tong was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is buried in Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery, Saulty, Pas de Calais, France (GR. VII. F. 7) – grave right. His name appears on the memorials at St Matthew’s and St Paul’s churches, Winchester, and on the Peter Symonds Grammar School Memorial. There is also a memorial plaque to Herbert at St Lawrence’s Church, Winchester, where he was organist.

Researchers - GERALDINE BUCHANAN and JOSEPHINE COLEMAN

Additional sources

• Interview with the late Janice Merritt, great niece of Herbert Tong and who was brought up at 11, Stockbridge Road.
• The Wartime Memories Project. 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment during the Great War. https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/alliedarmy-view.php?pid=847