| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Albert Ruston was born in Bainton in Mar 1891 and baptised at Bainton Parish Church on 17 May 1891, the son of John Ruston and his wife Louisa (nee Massander), the family moved to Beverley in the early 1890s. Albert became a tanner’s labourer. He was unmarried.
Albert enlisted on 22 Oct 1915 and became a private in the 1st/5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. He arrived on the Western Front on 30 Mar 1916 and was assigned to “A” Company. He spent 25 Jul 1916 until 8 Aug 1916 with the 176th Tunneling Company of the Royal Engineers. He had a period at home on leave in Sep 1917. On 11 Apr 1918 in the Battle of the Lys in Belgium, near the village of Estaires, Albert received a gunshot wound to his right thigh and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Around this time up to 75,000 British soldiers were captured in German offensives. There is no International Red Cross record of Albert’s captivity so it is not known which POW Camp he was held in. He did complain after his release on 1 Jan 1919 of “hardships” and food shortages in the camps only alleviated by the arrival of British food parcels via the Red Cross. He also contracted severe rheumatism and muscular pains whilst in captivity. Albert was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
Albert died in Apr 1920 and was buried at St Martin’s Cemetery on 20 Apr 1920. He is commemorated on the street shrine for St Andrew Street along with his brother Frederick Ruston who died of wounds in a German POW camp at Lamsdorf on 24 Sep 1918.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |