Name: John William Lazenby

Rank: Private

No CWGC reference

Paul Allen writes:

John is one of two Scarborough casualties of the Great War commemorated on the Oliver’s Mount Memorial with the surname of Lazenby, the second being John’s cousin: Private George Lazenby [also incorrectly recorded as ‘Lazemby’].

Born in Scarborough during 1890 John was the eldest son of Sarah and George Lazenby and he had been a pre-war Regular Army soldier and veteran of the retreat from Mons. Badly wounded by shrapnel whilst serving in Belgium with ‘B’ Squadron of the 18th (Queen Mary’s Own) Hussars during 26 November 1914, John was evacuated to England and eventually returned to his mother’s home in Scarborough at 35 Harcourt Avenue, where he died almost exactly a year later from the effects of his wounds on 26 November 1915.

Aged 26 at the time of his death, Lazenby was afforded a full military honours funeral but, despite this, his remains were interred in Scarborough’s Manor Road Cemetery (Section O, Row 13, Grave 6) in a common, and unmarked grave. This, according to Scarborough Corporation does not allow him to qualify for a Commonwealth War Graves headstone to mark his final resting place, due to the grave belonging to all the people interred in the plot. It would appear that the final resting place of Private Lazenby will forever remain unmarked.

Apart from the Oliver’s Mount Memorial, John William Lazenby’s name is commemorated on the ‘Rood Screen’ Memorial in St James’ Church, located in Seamer Road.

Paul Allen