Albert Henry Buckley
British Army Royal Army Service Corps
Not much is known about Albert Henry Buckley / Merryweather. We know he was born in around 1921, but do not know where. He died in 1967 at the age of 45 in Middlesex. His mother died when he was young, but we do not know when or where this occurred. His father is completely unknown. We think he was an Army dispatch rider in North Africa during WW2. After the war we know he lived in Monmouthshire with his partner, Nina Julie Cookes, and had several children with her there. They were not married however, which intrigues me given the social expectations during the 1950's. There is a large gap in the information about them until 1967, which is when Albert died. If anybody has any information that may be useful please do not hesitate to contact me.
We have a series of so-called Chinese Whispers in terms of this man who seems to be a bit of an enigma. There have been all sorts of stories in the family - he died when my husband's dad (his son) was 14 years old, and he was a quiet man who certainly didn't talk about his past or the war. We're not sure if his real name was Albert Henry Buckley, or whether he was known as Albert/Bertie or something else. Also, there were stories that he had been adopted and that even his surname may have been different! He met my husband's paternal grandmother, Nina Julie Cookes (believed also to be known as Julia) in the Valleys in south Wales and they lived in Bedwellty. We know Nina Julie Cookes was married previous to meeting our Albert, but we have no idea about his life before he met her.
