Wilfred Critchell Thick

Story:
Wilfred Critchell Thick was born on 15th March 1899 at Ebbesbourne Wake, Wiltshire, the son of Edwin George Thick and Agnes Ellen Thick (née Critchell).   He lived his early life in Ebbesbourne Wake where his father was proprietor of the Old Stores.   He enlisted on 27th April 1917 and joined the Royal North Devon Hussars (Service No. 225795) but transferred on 19 Oct 1918 to the Lincolnshire Regiment as a Cyclist (Service No.52588) at which time he was posted to France & Flanders only to be transferred again on the 2 Nov 1918 to the 1st Reserve Battalion (Service No.56669) as an Acting Corporal. After the Armistice he had volunteered to remain on occupation duties but was eventually discharged on 18th May 1920 and awarded the Victory and British War medals.  The 1921 Census shows him living with his parents at Blackfield, Fawley, Hampshire, working as a Surveyor's Clerk. He married Agnes Harriet Cox in 1926 in the Southampton, Hampshire, Registry area and they went on to have two children.  By the 1939 Register he was living at 64 Longstamps Road, Chelmsford, Essex and was a Chartered Quantity Surveyor as well as an ARP Warden. It is to be noted that he also served as a Councillor on Chelmsford District Council for a time. He eventually moved to 72 Rolleston Road, Holbury, Southampton, Hampshire, where he died on 22nd December 1992 aged 93 years.