Name
William George Baldwin
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
02/06/1919
44
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
33194
Royal Air Force
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ABBOTS LANGLEY (ST. LAWRENCE) CHURCHYARD
438. (N.E. Plot).
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Abbots Langley Village Memorial, St. Lawrence Church Memorial, Abbots Langley
Biography
In the May 1918 Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour it was indicated that William George Baldwin had been discharged wounded. He had been taken ill whilst in France and although he underwent a series of treatments he died at home on 2nd June 1919. He was the second Abbots Langley man to die from the effects of War after the conflict had ended.
William was born at Abbots Langley in the Spring of 1875, one of three children born to William and Joyce Baldwin. William (Senior) worked as a Carpenter, and the family lived in Breakspeare Road, Abbots Langley, until the time of the 1901 Census when they were recorded at the East Side of the Village Street in Kings Langley. At that point William George remained at 85 Breakspeare Road, and worked as a Plumber. He had married Nellie Ridgeway on 19th December 1906, and by 1911 the couple had two sons and five daughters. Their eldest son William Arthur served in and survived the Great War.
William George enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps (which became the Royal Air Force in April 1918), and served as an Air Mechanic. Whilst in France he was taken ill and was evacuated back to England, and underwent treatment. He survived the War but died from the effects of his illness on 2nd June 1919, seven months after the Armistice. His death was recorded in the Abbots Langley Parish Magazine in July 1919 –
“Another name has to be added to the long list of those who have died in the Service of their Country. William George Baldwin, though well over military age joined the Royal Air Force in 1916 as an Air Mechanic. He served for a long time in France, but the conditions under which he lived developed serious internal maladies, and he returned to a Military Hospital in England. He afterwards underwent severe operations, and though these were temporarily successful, he died at home on June 2nd. His name has been placed in the Church upon the Roll of Honour of those who have died in War, and eventually be placed upon the War Memorial. For many years he was one of our Bell-ringers, and had for some time past been Foreman, and took the greatest interest in the Bells. It was with great pleasure during his long illness that he heard the Bells, which had been silent through a long period of the War, beginning to be rung by the new band of young ringers. As a mark of respect to him a muffled peal was rung on June 6th before the funeral and whilst his body was being laid to rest in the Churchyard. We offer the sympathy of all in the Parish to Mrs Baldwin and her family”.
He was also recorded in the National Roll of the Great War, a book produced at the end of the War by the National Publishing Company from information supplied by families and friends -
“He joined in June 1916, and in the same year proceeded with his squadron overseas. During his service in France he was employed as an aero engine fitter, work which demanded a high degree of technical skill. Early in 1918 he was invalided home on account of ill health, and was discharged from the Service in consequence in May of that year. He has since died. He was living at 85 Breakspeare Road, Abbots Langley”.
William George Baldwin was buried in the Churchyard at St Lawrence Church, Abbots Langley, and was also commemorated on the Abbots Langley War Memorial.
Acknowledgments
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
