Surbiton man killed serving in WW2.
Richard Edwin Nowell Hawkins was born in 1919 in Tonbridge, Kent, the elder child of Gordon Woodruff Hawkins (1887-1960) and Muriel Gwendolen Hawkins née Hardwick (1898-1964). His birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1919 in the Sevenoaks Registration District, Kent.
In the 1921 census he is shown as aged 1 year, 7 months, living in three rooms at 2 Laurel Villas, Dunton Green, Sevenoaks, with his parents. His father described himself as a motor tractor owner.
His brother was Anthony Peter Woodruff Hawkins (1923-2002).
At the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, his father was shown as living at 17 South Place, Surbiton, Surrey (now Greater London) and was a surgical supplies manager.
He was serving in the 2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, service number 6142270, when he died, aged 25 years, on 1 March 1945. His body was buried in Plot2, Row H, Grave 12 in the Taiping War Cemetery, 34000 Taiping, Daerah Larut, Matang dan Selama, Perak, Malaysia. His headstone shows his age incorrectly as 26 years.
He is shown as 'Hawkins R.E.N.' on one of the two 1939-1945 plaques forming the screen wall at the Surbiton War Memorial, outside Surbiton Library, 19 Ewell Road, Surbiton, KT6 6AG. He is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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