Ernest Reginald Legg

Ernest Legg, known as Ern, married Annie E Penny in 1939. Though listed as a Pit Hand in the 1939 Register, for most of the war, Ern worked on Abbot's Court Farm. Dorset Home Guard records record him joining Auxiliary Units in November 1941 from the regular Home Guard, even though the Auxiliary Units Nominal Roll gives a date in 1942. He used to disappear from the farm without explanation for periods of time. Others assumed he had gone off to play football as he played for some good teams. On 14 August 1943 he went into the Army, with a number of other Dorset Auxiliers joining on the same date, as a result of call up exemptions being lifted nationally for Patrol members. The photo shows him in the uniform of the Royal Army Service Corps, but no more is known about his Army career. After the war he returned to the farm at Abbott's Court near Anderson. One day he went out to collect the cows for milking but did not return. He was found dead in the field from what proved to be a blood clot on the brain. He was just 43.