Sapper Ernest Billings was the elder son of Joseph and Caroline Billings, of 16 West Road, Oakham, and was born on 11 October 1896. He worked as a watchmaker, and enlisted in the Royal Engineers in November 1915. He served in the 7th Division Signal Company. His death on 23 December 1918, was due to broncho-pneumonia caused by 'flu. He is buried at Kantara War Cemetery, Egypt, grave E.421. Ernest's brother Herbert, a year younger than him, also died in the war. Both brothers are remembered on Oakham's war memorial in the grounds of All Saints' Church, and also on a brass plaque inside the Baptist Church along the High Street.