Lindsay Frederick Moors was born on 24 September 1894, the son of Frederick Moors (1870-1899) and Ann Elizabeth Moors née Isaacs (b.1875). His birth was registered as Lindsey Frederick Moors in the 4th quarter of 1894 in the Portsea registration district, Hampshire.
His father died when he was just 5 years old and his mother then remarried a man by the name of Mr Reeves, who also died, and she then remarried again to a Mr Collins. When Lindsey's mother remarried Mr Reeves, he was sent to an orphanage. At the very young age of 12, Lindsey was sent out to work. He worked as a fireman on shunting engines in Portsmouth. Then on 20 November 1911, at the age of 17, he joined the Royal Marines, service number PO16212, spelling his name as Lindsay Frederick Moors and served throughout the First World War. Electoral registers in 1918 show him listed as an absent voter at 15 Station Road, Hanwell, Middlesex (now Greater London).
He married Violet Elizabeth Ivery (1899-1976) in the 2nd quarter of 1918 in the Portsmouth registration district, Hampshire and they had three children, Violet Florence Moors (b.1920), Ivy Elizabeth Moors (b.1923) and William Frederick Moors (1929-2021). All three children were born in Portsmouth. He retired from the Royal Marines with the rank of Colour Sergeant and on 24 September 1927 he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
The early 1930s were a time of vast unemployment, and he managed at the age of forty to get an appointment in the Royal Marine Police. Electoral registers from 1936 to 1939 show him and his wife listed at 12 Southdown Crescent, South Harrow, Middlesex (now Greater London). In the 1939 England and Wales Register he was shown as 'Royal Marine Police retired, service number CH/RM.L/X456', still living at 12 Southdown Crescent with his wife and their daughter, Violet Florence Moors.
On 16 October 1940 he was appointed as a Sub-Divisional Inspector and was given the task of security chief at the Docks in the Port of London. He died, aged 46 years, as a result of enemy action whilst on duty in the Royal Victoria Yard on 19 March 1941 and was buried on 27 March 1941 in Section P, Grave 28, in Eastcote Lane Cemetery, 6 Reverend Close, Harrow, HA2 8DP.
The London Gazette of 28 October 1941 confirms that he received a Posthumous Commendation for Bravery during an Enemy air raid on London. Administration with a will was granted to his widow on 2 January 1942 and his effects totalled £1,331-13s-0d.
He is shown incorrectly as Moors L E on the Royal Victoria Yard war memorial that is located at The Colonnade, Grove Street, London, SE8 and as Insp. L. Moors RMP on the Victoria Cross Holders and local WW2 Civilian Heroes plaque inside Lewisham Shopping Centre, Molesworth Street, London, SE13 7HB. He is also commemorated on the Lewisham War Memorials website that tells the story of what happened on the night of his death and on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website.
We gratefully acknowledge that much of this information was published by Nicola Field, the great-granddaughter of Lindsay Frederick Moors, on her ancestry.co.uk family tree.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
