208662 Sgt. Thomas Woodward British Army Labour Corps from:42 Webb Street, Liverpool I want my great uncle, Thomas Woodward, to be remembered because as a man with a crippled foot he could have used it as a very good excuse to avoid the war altogether, but he didn't. The Labour Corps was vital to the war effort and they were working for days in dangerous environments, going ahead of the troops, preparing the way. It could be a thankless and underrated task.
Tom was born in 1887 in West Derby, Liverpool, but had Irish blood in his veins through his mother. He was, according to the 1911 census, a labourer in Bibby's Oil Cake Mills and lived in 42 Webb Street. He had four brothers and five sisters, 2 of those brothers died in two of the bloodiest battles of WW1; the Somme (Deville Wood - 1916) and Passchendaele (the 3rd Battle of Ypres - 1917).
He joined up in 1914 at the age of 27 and survived through to the end. Tom went back to the family home in Liverpool, he never married and finally passed away in 1969 at the grand old age of 81 and a half. Unfortunately, we are unable to get any real intimate details of his army service, we only have a half burnt attestation.
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