Lawrence Hampton was the son of Robert and Mary Ellen Hampton, of Mangatainoka, Wellington, New Zealand.
March 1945: 2nd Lieutenant, C Company.
April 1945: Anti-Tank Officer, 5 Platoon, Specialist Company
Lieutenant L. Hampton, MM; born Dannevirke, 3 Aug 1918; Regular soldier; killed in action 28 Apr 1945. (Source: Kay, R. Italy Volume II : From Cassino to Trieste. p.514.)
'Thus reinforced, the patrol was divided into two groups, one under Smythe of one tank, two armoured cars and three jeeps, and the other under Hampton of one tank, two armoured cars and one jeep. Smythe's party had not gone far when the tank was bogged and had to be hauled out while an armoured car gave covering fire against German infantry. Hampton's party turned down a side road to investigate a house, and the jeep, which was reconnoitring ahead, was ambushed by Germans: ‘There seemed to be about 150 of them’ Corporal Rentoul eluded the enemy and made his way back to 25 Battalion; two wounded men were later collected by the Lancers; four, including Hampton, were killed or died of their wounds. The rest of the patrol was recalled.
25 Battalion - Several awards were made to members of the battalion for services in the recent operations. They were:
DSO, Lieutenant-Colonel Morten and Major Morrison
MC, Captain Norman and Lieutenant Williams
MM, WO II L. Hampton,32 Sergeant L. G. Mendelssohn, Corporal J. A. Glover, Lance-Corporal R. W. Heine and Private J. L. Leckie' (Source: Kay, R. Italy Volume II : From Cassino to Trieste. p. 514.; Puttick, E. 25 Battalion. p. 311) AWMM