249339 Pte. Edward Weldon British Army 11th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps from:West Bromwich Edward Weldon was born in 1894, with no birth records, his mother was Mary Ellen Wilden and she later married a gentleman named Arthur Elsmore. As the story goes Edward didn't enjoy his life as an Elsmore and when he joined the armed services it was under the name Edward Weldon.
He enlisted on 1st of September 1914. As records show he was in the 11th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. He served in France where, as the stories from his children say, he'd been gassed, bayoneted and shot in the leg during his service and was discharged wounded on the 16th of August 1917 following the shot through the back of his lower leg.
By all accounts he was a big powerful strong man who never talked about his time in the war and battles he'd been in. And typical of the man when WW2 came he became a warden still doing his bit.
I never had the chance to meet my grandfather as he died before I was born. Having started to trace the family tree I have specifically been drawn towards his life. So sad I never got to meet this man but am tracing is army life with the aid of records, diaries and books.
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