Name
Alfred William Waldron
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
23/10/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Corporal
G/10206
The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
FOREST COMMUNAL CEMETERY
A. 4.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey Town Memorial, St Peter’s Church Memorial, Bushey Heath, Not on the Northchurch memorials, Not on the Berkhamsted memorials
Pre War
Born in 1887 and baptised in Berkhamsted on 3 April 1887, Alfred William Waldron was the eldest son of Joseph and Annie (nee Green) Waldron. His parents were married on 16 December 1882 at Christ Church in Marylebone, Westminster.
At the 1891 census, Alfred was 4 years old and living with his parents and two siblings in the High Street in Northchurch, a village between Berkhamsted and Tring. Joseph and Annie were both 32 years old and Joseph was working as a gardener. Alfred’s six-year-old sister and two-year-old brother were also named Annie and Joseph. Birthplaces were given as Lambeth for Joseph (Snr.), Northchurch for Annie (Snr.), Dudswell (nr. Berkhamsted) for Annie and Berkhamsted for Alfred and Joseph. Also present were Samuel and Elizabeth Bennett, who were 48 and 29 years old respectively. Samuel was working as a Groom.
By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to 57 Gossoms End in Northchurch. Alfred’s older sister was not present, but he now had three siblings, including 12-year-old Joseph, five-year-old James Henry and 9-year-old Ada Maria West, who is recorded as ‘adopted’. The birthplaces for James and Ada were given as Northchurch and London respectively. Joseph is still working as a domestic gardener and Alfred is now employed as a warehouse boy.
By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved again to 2 William Street (off George Street) in Berkhamsted. Also present are Alfred, Joseph and James, who had now also been joined by seven-year-old George. He had also been born in Northchurch. Ada was no longer living with the family. Joseph (Snr.) was still working as a gardener, Alfred was a landscape gardener, Joseph was a carman for a grocer, James was an errand boy and George was at school.
Alfred married Esther Mary Bond on 11 August 1911, and they moved to 119 School Lane in Bushey. They had a daughter named Barbara May Waldron, who was born in Bushey on 5 April 1915.
Wartime Service
Alfred Waldron attested for short service (duration of the war) on 12 December 1915 as Private G/10206 with the Army Reserve. He was 29 years and 10 months old, 5 feet 9 ½ inches tall with a 34-inch chest and weighed 132 lbs. He had a slight varicose vein in his left leg and defective teeth. He was fitted with dentures on 10 October 1916.
Alfred served at home from 12 December 1915 until mobilised on 30 May 1916 and posted to the B.E.F with the 3rd Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment from 1 June 1916. He subsequently transferred to the 7th Battalion on 31 December 1916 and was appointed in the field as unpaid Lance Corporal on 30 July 1917. He was later appointed as paid Lance Corporal on 16 August 1918. He received a gunshot wound to the scalp on 22 August 1918 and admitted to Casualty Clearing Station No. 20 on 22 August 1918. Re-joining his battalion on 4 October 1918 he was promoted to Corporal on 10 October 1918 before being killed in action on 23 October 1918. He was entitled to the British War and Victory medals.
Alfred was buried in Forest Communal Cemetery in northern France and is commemorated on the Bushey Memorial and at St Peter’s Church in Bushey Heath.
His pension card named his widow Ester as his dependant and gave her date of birth as 2 January 1885. She was awarded a pension of 23s/6d per week with effect from 19 May 1919. The Register of Soldiers’ Effects also records that she received a War Gratuity of £14 10s.
Additional Information
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
