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Pte. William W. Eldridge
British Army 13th Battalion Royal Fusiliers
from:Battersea
(d.11th Apr 1917)
My great-grandfather, William Eldridge, left his wife Florence and their baby son (my grandfather, Bill) when he enlisted. He died of his wounds in a casualty clearing station on 4th of November 1917. I don't know very much about his life, and I have been unable to find much. As a child, I remember his widow's penny being prominently displayed around photos of all the great-grandchildren. We were always reminded of the sacrifice my great-grandfather made in service of his country.
As an adult, I have been able to find his grave site, he is buried at Duisans British cemetery, by using Google Earth and virtually walking along the country lane next to where he is buried. I was able to "look" over the hedgerow and find his actual grave. I hope to visit him next year, on the 100th anniversary of his death. I know from family anecdotes and personal experience that his death greatly affected my grandfather, Bill, who was raised by a single mother, as so many children were.
As an aside, I am a writer and director in media, including video games. A few years ago, I wrote a game called The Darkness, in which I set a number of playable levels in a version of the trenches of the Great War. I was able to create two AI (Artificial Intelligence) characters carrying the names of my two great grandfathers who were lost in the war. And once the game was finished, I was able to move across that landscape and find Great Granddad Bill, and visit with him for a while. It was a very emotional experience, thinking that in some way I had been able to keep his memory alive.
