Jack Wright Brockway

Story:
Jack Wright Brockway was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 29th October 1894 and baptised at St. James' Church on 7th April 1895 the son of Harry Brockway and Kate Brockway (née Wright). The family home was at 3 St. James, Shaftesbury. Jack had moved to South Wales prior to the outbreak of war where he was employed as a miner and it was there on 2 Sep 1914 he enlisted with the South Wales Borderers as a Private (Service No. 7/14083). He served in France from 5 Sep 1915 with his Regiment. On 1 Jan 1918 he was transferred to the 983rd Company of the Labour Corps as he was suffering from deformed feet. He was posted to Salonika and based at the 42nd General Hospital. He married Gertrude Elsie Head on 13th October 1918 in Marylebone, Middlesex. They had one child in 1919 who passed away the same year and unfortunately his wife also died in 1920. He was demobilized on 3rd April 1919 and awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1915 Star. The 1921 Census shows him living at 3 St. James Street, Shaftesbury, described as a Blast Furnaceman (Out of Work). He re-married Alice Mary Harris in Mere, Wiltshire, in 1924 and they went on to have seven children. By the 1939 Register the family were living at 39 Coppice Street, Shaftesbury. Jack died on 28th October 1971 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and was buried in St. Rumbold's Churchyard, Cann, Shaftesbury, on 1st November 1971.