Private. Machine Gun Corps, Service number 131099. Formerly 8th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (Leeds Rifles).
Early life:
Albert was born in Oakworth in 1899, registered in Keighley in the first quarter of that year. Parents Feather and Mary Ann Reddihough.
In 1901 he was two years old and living at Field Head Farm in Newsholme near Oakworth with his parents, brother William and sister Hannah. His father Feather was a farmer on his own account.
By 1911 he was twelve and still at Field Head farm with his parents, four brothers and one sister. His father was still a farmer and Albert worked half time on the farm and half time at school.
War service:
He enlisted at Keighley with the West Yorkshire Regiment (Leeds Rifles). He would have been transferred to the Machine Gun Corps later, possibly in France.
He served overseas in the war and was discharged to the ‘Z’ Reserve on February 8, 1919. This was a reserve of fit and able men who were ready to return immediately to service should the November 1918 armistice break down and fighting began again.
Albert died just six days after discharge, on February 14, 1919, aged just twenty years. His death was registered in Keighley in March. We have no record of the cause of his death but he may have been a victim of the influenza epidemic.
He is buried in grave 51 in section C of Oakworth Cemetery and his grave inscription says: “He Hath Done His Best.”
Post war and Remembrance:
Albert was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal for his war service.
He is remembered on the Oakworth War memorial at Holden Park in Oakworth and on the Slack Lane Baptist Chapel war memorial which is on display in Oakworth Community Hall.
