HAROLD JOHN RIVRON FRENCH
From May through to September 2026, Andrew will be fulfilling his dream to hike the iconic Land’s End to John O’Groats! You are all warmly invited to follow Andrew’s epic journey on his Facebook page, “Andrew Beal LEJOG”: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577588795730
As Andrew hikes the 1,300+ miles, he will raise funds for the Ipswich War Memorial Project to help finance our future exhibitions and research of the brave Ipswich men and women who lost their lives in conflict. If you would like to make a small donation, please click on the link: https://gofund.me/5d4a50570
Thank you for your love and support. Andrew & Helen – I.W.M.P.
Photograph courtesy of Elaine.
Born: 18th April 1917, Dovercourt, Essex.
Died on or since: 8th June 1944; age: 27; at sea.
Residence: ‘West Elms’ 113, Fronks Road, Dovercourt, Essex.
Occupation: Civil Engineer.
Rank: Captain; Service Number: 233139.
Regiment: Royal Engineers.
The final resting place is unknown.
Memorial Reference:
Panel 11, Column 3.
Calvados,
France.
Father: Francis Harold French, born November 1885, Worthing, West Sussex – died March 1946, at ‘West Elms’ Fronks Road, Dovercourt, Essex.
Mother: Beatrice Ruby Mace French (nee Rivron), born January 1884, Ipswich.
CENSUS
1921 15, Cliff Road, Harwich, Essex.
Harold was 4 years and 2 months old and lived with his parents and sister.
Francis French, 34 years & 7 months old, a Borough Surveyor for Harwich Corporation.
Beatrice French, 37 years & 5 months old.
Margaret Isabel Joyce French, 7 years & 11 months old, at School, born Dovercourt.
1 female general domestic servant.
Harold was educated at Ipswich School.
ENGLAND & WALES REGISTER 1939.
Harold was a Civil Engineer. He lived with his parents and sister at their family home – ‘West Elms’ 113, Fronks Road, Dovercourt, Essex.
Francis, a Borough Engineer & Surveyor.
Beatrice, a Mantle Maker.
Margaret.
On the 23rd December 1939, at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Little Ilford, Essex, 22 year old Harold, a civil engineer, of The Rectory, Little Ilford, married 21 year old Hannah Margaret Woolf, of Mill Cottage, Lothersdale, Yorkshire, a Women’s Land Army worker, born 24th July 1918, Montreal, Ontario, Canada – daughter of Walter Reginald Woolf, a designer – clothes, and Margaret Woolf (nee Mason). The Woolf family were Congregational Calvary.
Hannah’s mother, Margaret Mason died at the end of July 1921, aged 27. Walter returned to his family in England with his 5 year old daughter, Hannah a few months later.
Probate to Margaret Joyce Isabel French – sister.
Harold is also commemorated on the Ipswich School Chapel war memorial and the British Normandy Memorial, virtually opened by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, on the 6th June 2021.
Maybe the greatest achievement of the Royal Engineers was the construction and operation of the Mulberry Harbour and its support for the Battle of Normandy on the 6th June 1944 and is possible that Harold may have been involved in this during the D-Day landings.
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