Bertie Toogood

Story:
Bertie Toogood was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 7 Jul 1898 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 7 Sep 1898 the son of Frederick Toogood and Annie Elizabeth Toogood (nee Maskell).  He lived all his life, apart from a very short Military Service, in the Shaftesbury area.  He enlisted on 12 Apr 1915 and joined the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private (Service No. 13077).  During his short service he spent much of it in and out of hospital.  He was declared unfit for further military service on 2 Jul 1916 due to a Valvular Disease of the Heart which he had suffered from since childhood.  He was duly discharged on 8 Jul 1916 and a later application for a pension was refused.  No medals were awarded. The 1921 Census shows him living with his father in Enmore Green working as a Farm Labourer. He married Lilian Mary Williams in 1932.  By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at 1 The Barton, Enmore Green, Shaftesbury, Dorset, working as a General Farm Labourer.  His wife, Lily, died in 1943 and he went on to re-marry Mary I. Larking in Sturminster, Dorset, in 1953.  Bertie's death was recorded at the Sturminster, Dorset, Registry in 1969 and he was buried at St. John's Church, Enmore Green.  His brothers, Frederick George Toogood, Arthur Charles Toogood, George Toogood, Charley Toogood and Reginald Toogood, also served in the conflict.