252741 Pte. Edward Weldon British Army 11th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps from:West Bromwich I never had the chance to meet my grandfather Edward Weldon, but found his life story to be one of interest during my research into our family tree.
Edward was born in 1894 and never knew his father. He had been led to believe his name was also Edward but unfortunately this was not the case. His mother married another man in 1897, but later, Edward retained what he believed was his family name of Weldon when he enlisted on 1st of September 1914 and was in the 11th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corp part of 20th (Light) Division.
He was involved in many of the early battles which included Mount Sorrel, Deville Wood, Guillemont, Morval and Le Transloy. Then on 16th of August 1917 at the Battle of Langemarck, he was wounded and that would be the end of his involvement in the Great War.
The only thing that his wife and family knew was that he had been bayoneted through the leg and also shot through the back of his leg, Edward never spoke of any of his time in the battles but had become a very hard and stern husband and father.
When WW2 came along he still did his little bit and became a Warden.
Sadly for me there are no photos remaining of him, the large photo of him as a young man in his full military uniform was damaged and thrown away. His medals again have sadly been lost, along with his memorabilia from his wartime travels.
The only thing I have is the ability in today's technology driven world, is to trace the few records of his military campaign and the war diaries.
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