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2Lt. Lawrence Mark Garbutt
British Army 9th Btn. Norfolk Regiment
(d.10th Aug 1918)
Lawrence Mark enlisted on 10th of December 1915, in Army Reserve. His physical description was given as fresh complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, height 5ft 6½ins, girth when expanded 37 inches with a 3 inch range of expansion, with no distinctive marks. His religion was Church of England.
He was mobilized on 17th of April 1916. He was with 24th Division on 30 August 1915 and 6th Division 11 October 1915 and tested on 17th April 1916, where he was sent to 7 (FT) Artillery Training School as a Driver on 19th April 1916.
On 7th September 1917 he was transferred to No.12 Cadet Battalion, Newmarket for training as an Officer. He was discharged to Commission on 17th December 1917 as 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd (Battalion) Essex Regiment. On 12 February 1918 Lawrence was passed as fit for his transfer to the Machine Gun Corps (Heavy Branch).
Whilst attached to the 9th Norfolk Regiment he went to the Western Front with 71st Brigade. He was gassed and had just returned to his unit when he was wounded in action on 18th July 1918. History tells us that the British Command decided that as they had taken so many hits that day the order was given to withdraw and to leave all the dead and dying lying on the battlefield. The ANZACS were sent to move into position and Lawrence was picked up and taken to the 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station. He had been hit in the lower right lumbar and kidney region. Lawrence died there three days later, cause of death "of wounds received in action".
Lawrence Mark was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is buried in Esquelbecq Cemetery in France. The newspaper report of Lawrence Mark's death states that he was 28 years of age, his death certificate and report from the Ministry of Defence confirms that he was wounded on 31st July 1918 and died on 10th August 1918. This is also reinforced by the War Diaries for the 9th Norfolk Regiment held at the National Archives, Kew, London.
