Story
William Tom Aldridge was wounded in the hand during the First World War serving in France. Born in1893, he attested on 27 March 1916. (Confusingly, his date of enlistment is also given as 26 Feb 1916 with 'service reckoning from 26 May 1916'. When he joined the Devon Regt Labour Corps, aged 22 years and 8 months, his trade was Motor Spirit Filler. He was single and stood at 5ft 1.5ins. He was also attached to the Somersets (from 29 Mar1916). He served in France from 7 May1916, sailing from Southampton to Le Havre. A few weeks later, on 16 July1916, he was wounded in the field on the right hand at Rouen and taken to hospital on 16 July.1916. Subsequently, on 10 Aug 1917 Pte Aldridge, who had been transferred to the Labour Corps, suffered from influenza and was taken to Hospital at Gilly (Somme). Having served with the 157th Labour Company of the Labour Corps, he was issued with his Protection and ID certificate on leaving the Army in September 1919. Examined at Rotterdam in September 1919, prior to be demobbed, he did not claim to be suffering from a disability resulting from his service. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service. William's dad was a blacksmith, born in Motcombe, Dorset around 1868. At the age of about 25 he married Elizabeth (Bessie), a year his junior who came from Kington Magna. He was on the Dorset register of electors. They had seven children but, tragically, three of them died. William was the oldest of the surviving children. William was born in 1893 and baptised at St James, Poole, on August 27 of that year. His brother, Elijah James, was a year younger. Their sister Winnifred (sic) and brother Fred were eight and 10 years younger than William. All were born in Poole. Three years before the war began William was working as a milk boy. (Brother Elijah was an errand boy in an outfitters.) By 1930, while his father, Elijah, was still at Chapel Lane, William was living at 20 Castle Street, next to the Rising Sub pub. At the outbreak of the Second World War, William was still living in Castle Street, Poole with a wife, Beatrice. He was working at a Royal Navy Cordite Factory. One of their children was Margaret E. Aldridge, then 10. He was still living there in 1959 but moved soon afterwards to Lake Avenue in Hamworthy, dying in Poole early in 1961. * Please contact us if you have any amendments or additions.