Name
Frederick William Puddifoot
1890
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
09/04/1918
28
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Gunner
230281
Royal Field Artillery
'B' Battery, 95th Brigade
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
RIBEMONT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, SOMME
II. C. 5.
France
Headstone Inscription
NOT GONE FROM MEMORY NOT GONE FROM LOVE BUT TO HIS FATHER'S HOME ABOVE
UK & Other Memorials
Abbots Langley Village Memorial, St. Lawrence Church Memorial, Abbots Langley, Church of Ascension Memorial, Bedmond
Pre War
Frederick William Puddifoot was born in 1890 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, the son and youngest child of William and Elizabeth Puddifoot, and was one of eight children.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at Bell Meadow, Abbots Langley, where his father was working as a gardener's labourer. Their address was recorded as Bedmond, Bell Field in 1901 and they remained there in 1911 at which time Frederick was the only child living at home with his parents.
He married Lilian Mercy Grace Surridge in 1913 and they had two children, Stanley William (7 November 1913) and Gwendoline Lily (15 April 1916). Lilian's address was given as 2 Calais Street, Hadleigh, Suffolk on pension records, later moving to 2 Bell Field, Bedmond, Kings Langley, Herts.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Colchester, Essex and joined the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner, serving with 'B' Battery, 95th Brigade.
Frederick died of wounds on 9 April 1918 and is buried in Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France.
Biography
Frederick William was born in 1890 in Bedmond, Abbots Langley, to William Puddifoot, gardeners’ labourer and Elizabeth (nee Bunker). The family were living at Bell Meadow, Bedmond. There were 8 sisters but only one son. On the 1901 Census the family were living at Bell Field, Bedmond. On the 1911 census Frederick was employed as a gardeners’ labourer and was the only sibling living with his parents at Bell Field. Frederick married Lilian M G Surridge in 1913 and there was a son, Stanley William, born 1913 and a daughter, Gwendoline Lily born 1916.
Frederick was recorded as Gunner 230281 in the Royal Field Artillery. There are no service record available. (In many records variations of the family surname spelling occur). His unit as recorded at his death was B Battery XCV (95) Brigade RFA, a howitzer battery which attached to 21 Division. March/April 1918 was the period of the German Spring Offensive when considerable advances were made. Fredrick is reported to have Died of Wounds on 9 Apr 1918.
Frederick was first recorded in the Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour in June 1916, serving with the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC), having joined up earlier in April of that year. He went to France in November 1917, and by January 1918 was serving with the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). It is not known when he transferred from the AVC.
On 21st March 1918 the Germans launched their Spring Offensive, and after a surprise attack pushed back the British Front Line 40 miles in the following weeks. Frederick was killed in action on 9th April 1918 during one of the defensive actions along the path of the retreat.
The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine reported Frederick’s death in May 1918: “Frederick William Puddefoot, R.F.A, of Bedmond, was killed in action in France on April 9th. He leaves a wife and two little children, with whom and for whom all will feel real sorrow”.
His death was also reported in the Hertfordshire Advertiser on 1st June 1918: “Gunner F. Puddifoot (sic), of the RFA, who in civil life, lived and worked at Gotshouse Farm, Ardleigh, was killed in action on April 9th. He was 28 years of age, and was born at Bedmond. A Corporal writes of him "He had done very good work during this push and he is very much missed by us all’. Gunner Puddifoot (sic) joined up in April 1916, and he had been in France since November of last year (1917). He leaves a widow and two children. Lieutenant Tomlin writes ‘He was struck in the chest by a shell splinter, death being instantaneous. We miss a companion whose cheerful and hard-working disposition was often the mainstay of our little party through many a bad day”.
Frederick was one of five men from Abbots Langley, who were killed during the German Spring Offensive – Edward Mullins, Leonard Chalk, Joseph Belsham and Ernest Roome.
Frederick Puddefoot was buried at Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, to the south-west of Albert, on the Somme. He was commemorated on the Abbots Langley War Memorial and was also commemorated on the War Memorial at the Church of the Ascension at Bedmond.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £9 and pay owing of £11 11s 6d. She also received a pension of £1 5s 5d a week.
She later remarried in St Albans in 1919 to William Lawford.
N.B. Although registered at birth with the surname 'Puddifoot' and spelled with the 'i' on the 1911 Census, there are variations in the spelling of the surname e.g Puddefoot, Puddephat in other documents.
Acknowledgments
Neil Cooper, Brenda Palmer
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
