Pte William Charles Eldridge (1898 – 1922)

William Charles Eldridge was born during 1898 in Bexhill on Sea, Sussex. He was the eldest of four children born to Newton Charles Eldridge, a carter on a farm, and Charlotte Cramp.

By 1908 Charles, as he was more commonly known, had moved with his parents and three sisters to Pike Fish Farm in Yalding, Kent. Newton had found work as a waggoner and Charles had begun attending the local school.

It is not known when Charles enlisted with the military, however we do know that 10930 Pte C Eldridge first served with the Royal West Kent Regiment before transferring to the Machine Gun Corps, when he was allotted the new number of 149661.

Charles survived the war, and during 1920 the family moved to 21 Crow Hill in Borough Green. A year earlier Charles had contracted tuberculosis, and succumbed to the disease on 22 July 1922. At the time of his death Charles had been working as a farm labourer.