Bertie's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Bertie Whitwam was born in London on 18 February 1897, the son of Annie Elizabeth Whitwam. In 1911, fourteen-year-old Bertie, who was apprenticed to a painter, was living at Manchester Road, Wilmslow with his mother and stepfather Samuel Oakley, a plumber, who had married Annie Whitwam in Prestwich in 1902, and stepsister Eva Oakley, aged 23.
WW1 SERVICE
Bertie enlisted with the Royal Navy in Manchester on 6 August 1914, aged seventeen. He stated that he was employed as a greengrocer's assistant and his next of kin was his mother, who was then living at Moor Lane, Wilmslow. His records note that he was underage until he reached the age of 18 on 18 February 1915; it's not clear when he was actually drafted to Gallipoli.
Private Whitwam was killed in action during the battle of Kumkale; his death was reported in the Wilmslow Advertiser on 12 March 1915.
COMMEMORATION
Private Bertie Whitwam has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel Ref. 2-7 of the Helles Memorial in Turkey. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Bertie Whitwam, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War website.
Locally, Private Bertie Whitwam is commemorated on the Wilmslow (Mill Street) war memorial.
SOURCES
GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births
Census (England & Wales): 1911
Royal Marines Service Records (Find My Past)
WWI Naval Casualties (Find My Past)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Lives of the First World War website
Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.