Name
George Frank Aldridge
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
GS/13854
14th Hussars
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Biography
George Aldridge was the eldest of four sons born to George and Emily Aldridge. The couple also had a daughter. George (Senior) was a Butcher by trade and in 1911 was living in Adrian Road, Abbots Langley. The family farmed in the Gade Valley, and in June 1918 the Hertfordshire Advertiser reported that George and Emily Aldridge were living at Home Park Farm in Kings Langley. They also owned land near modern-day Francis Coombe School and a substantial Butchery in St Albans. Three of George’s sons served in the Great War, and all survived.
George Aldridge was born in the spring of 1893 at Abbots Langley. At the time of the 1911 Census he was employed at Leavesden Asylum. It is likely that he was serving as a soldier when War was declared in August 1914, or was serving as a Territorial, as George’s Medal Roll indicated that he disembarked in France, serving with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry with the rank of Lance Corporal.
The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour showed that George was serving with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry from the outset of the War, and first listed him in September 1914, when the Magazine published its first Roll of Honour list.
In December 1915 the Parish Magazine recorded that George and his brother Arthur were both reported suffering from dysentery and typhoid. At that point both men were serving with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry. The Yeomanry had fought through the Gallipoli campaign, and returned to Egypt in December 1915.
George’s Medal Roll Card noted that he was commissioned into the 5th Reserve Regiment of the Cavalry on 23rd July 1917. Later that year, on 4th December, George married Ethel Harvey from Abbots Langley at St Lawrence Church in the village. At that point the Church records recorded that George was serving with the 14th Hussars.
George and his two brothers, Arthur and Herbert, all survived the Great War. Arthur served with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry in Gallipoli, France, Egypt and Mesopotamia, whilst Herbert served as a Private with the Army Service Corps. All of the brothers were listed in the Langleybury Roll of Honour.
George was recorded in the Absent Voter Records for Langleybury, for Autumn 1918, Spring 1919, and Autumn 1919, serving as a Lieutenant with the 14th Hussars. His address was given at Home Park Farm.
George’s Medal Roll information indicated that he may have remained in the Cavalry after the War ended.
Additional Information
Formerly Hertfordshire Yeomanry and service number 1313.
Acknowledgments
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
