| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Albert was born on 27 Jun 1893 to parents John and Jessie Widdas who lived at 13 Sloe Lane Beverley. His siblings were Alexander, Mabel, Ernest, Jack, Cyril, Doris and Agnes. In 1911 he was working as a corn grinder at the Beeford Mill, Beeford near Driffield, for the Warkup family. On 8 Dec 1913 he joined the Hull police force. He wrote to Divisional Inspector Barker to ask permission to join the Hull Divisional Ammunition Column in 1915 and enlisted into the Army on 30 Apr 1915.
Albert left for France from Southampton on 30 Dec 1915, arriving in Le Harve the following day. He was serving with the Royal Field Artillery as a Driver; this is a military term for the rank of private and it originates from the driving of horses that pulled the guns. The Field Artillery usually serve on the front line manning the largest and heaviest guns along with the Howitzers and were found on the Western Front. In Apr 1917 Albert was now attached to the 16th Brigade. He left France in Dec 1918 and was discharged from the Army on 31 Mar 1920, gaining the British Medal, the 1914-15 Star and the Victory Medal.
In May 1920 he was living at 5 Juno Avenue, Hull, and by December of that year his address was 1 Bellamy Street Hull, having re-joined the Hull Police force. Albert married Jessie Warkup in Hull in the summer of 1922. Jessie had been born on 1 Mar 1901 and was the daughter of John and Alice Warkup. Albert and Jessie's son Kenneth Aubrey was born on 16 Apr 1923. Their home in in 1939 was 14 Stephenson Street Hull and Albert was still serving as a Police constable with the Hull force. Sadly, in Apr 1944 their son Kenneth was killed whilst serving as a stoker on the Trawler “Gairsay” aged 21. Albert died in Hull in 1970 aged 63 years, Jessie survived him until her death in 1976 aged 75 years. |