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Harold William BrinkworthHarold William Brinkworth was born on 24 June 1897 to Joseph Henry Brinkworth and Eliza née Alder of Fromebridge. Joseph was a steam crane driver undertaking dredging on the canal and, by the age of 13, Harold was working in the local cloth manufacturing industry.
Perhaps it was his father's employment with heavy machinery that led Harold to serve as a corporal in the Tank Corps during the war. Tanks, or 'land battleships', were first suggested in the autumn of 1914, and an experimental machine was completed in December 1915. The first companies of tanks were raised in 1916 and some embarked for France during the summer of that year but Harold's exact role is not known. He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal and his name is commemorated on the plaque in the Village Hall next to that of his uncle, Thomas Hart Brinkworth. Following demobilisation, Harold returned to Gloucestershire and married Alice Evelyn M. White, their wedding being registered in the first quarter of 1923 in the Wheatenhurst district. They lived in Alkerton, Eastington, where he worked as a fishmonger. They had one son, also called Harold. Harold William Brinkworth later moved to King's Stanley and his death was registered during the first quarter of 1983. |