Bristol 2014 Personal Stories
Throughout the project, we collected personal stories of Bristolians whose family members were affected by the First World War.
Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash
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Bristol2014
An Unfortunate Call of Nature Uncle Arthur Woodworth
Arthur Woodworth was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset on 16 November 1884. He moved to Hotwells, Bristol with his family before the turn of the century as his father William had a job as a Steam Cane driver at Bristol Docks. Unfortunately at 14 years of age Arthur and his father William got into some […]
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Bristol2014
Injured in Battle Uncle William “Woody” Woodworth
At the age of four, Woody and his family moved to Bristol and settled in No 16 Stacey Street, Southville. The 1911 census reports Woody’s trade as an errand boy. With the threat of the First World War, Woody would follow in the military footsteps of his brothers Arthur and Alfred and enlist to fight […]
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Bristol2014
Seeing the World Grandad Alfred Woodworth
As a youngster he had joined the 6th Battalion Gloucester Territorials and was at summer camp in Swanage in 1910. At 17 he joined the Merchant Navy, firstly sailing on the SS Clio, a Dutch Freighter out of Rotterdam, and then on the SS Mary Anne. A story he later told to his daughter was of the […]
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Bristol2014
My Father’s Story
He signed up under age for service in the First World War and served in the Machine Gun Corps, later transferring to the Royal Flying Corps (Royal Air Force). He was awarded the Military Cross at Passchendaele Ridge. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He took his four guns to the final objective, dug […]
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Bristol2014
St James Parish War Memorial
The church took part in Bristol Doors Open Day 2011 and made an appeal for volunteers to help research the monuments. One group set out to undertake research into the monuments to individuals who were buried in or connected to the church. A second group of volunteers decided to concentrate on investigating the names on […]