Walter S. MARGRETT & Sons, Ruardean. (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, April 05, 2013, 16:31 (4252 days ago) @ slowhands

Thanks for the extra info. So it indeed seems that as Alec was fortunately too young for WW2 service, so the "second brother" presumably was William George altho' thankfully it appears he didn't die directly due to his military service. Further searching finds nothing about him online so I assume he wasn't a POW in the European theatre (there being extensive records here, unlike for POWs in the Far East). ??? I therefore think I'll be looking out Freda's book next time I'm in the Dean, altho sadly I cannot find it in the Glos Library catalogue. If anyone cares to search it on the usual internet shopping sites the front cover carries a good photo of Walter Margrett in uniform, judging by his appearance taken towards the end of his Army career.

Hardcover: 38 pages
Publisher: Freda E. Margrett; 1 edition (2012)
ISBN-10: 095642242X
ISBN-13: 978-0956422422
"A Diary written by an old soldier Walter Stephen Margrett during the Great War 1914-1918, telling the hardships the men faced in the trenches, digging trenches whilst shells continually bursting overhead, with some men buried alive in the attempt. He talks of spending four days without food, drink or sleep, surviving by eating fruit from the hedgerows, and many other hardships. He fought throughout the war and survived but never recovered from his injuries. Then the Second World War 1939-1945 his two eldest sons were called up and in 1944 they were both reported missing within three weeks of each other. The shock I am sure caused his early death."

Here's a little more detail from Walter Margrett's WW1 Medal Card:

Reference:WO 372/13/118446
Description:Medal card of Margrett, Walter S
Corps Regiment No Rank
Wiltshire Regiment 7347 Private
Royal Scots Fusiliers 341692 Private
Date: 1914-1920
Held by: The National Archives, Kew

From free-access TNA site
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D3929602

Again this shows soldiers often served in far-from-local Regiments, altho his first was localish. Given his age when war started I wonder if he was on the Reserve List so saw early action.

Slowhands, thank's for highlighting he's on Army service in South Africa during the 1911 Census. I've since learnt this was the first UK Census to include returns for the British Army at their many overseas bases. I mention this as last year I'd hoped to find one of my soldier ancestors in India during the 1891 Census, but sadly no.
http://www.ukcensusonline.com/census/1911.php