Alfred's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Alfred Hilditch was baptised on 1 October 1882 at St Paul's Church, Macclesfield, the son of Frances Ann and William Hilditch, an overlooker of 37 Knight Street, Macclesfield. In 1901, nineteen-year-old Alfred was living at the same address with his widowed mother and older brothers John (40) and William Henry (22).
Alfred married Amelia Barker Unwin on 18 July 1904 at St Paul's Church, Macclesfield. Amelia was a shirtmaker and lived nearby at 28 Knight Street. In 1911 the couple were living at 37 Knight Street with their three-year-old daughter Doris, Alfred's mother and his brother William Henry.
Amelia later lived at 1 York St, Buxton Rd, Macclesfield.
WW1 SERVICE
Alfred volunteered for the Army in December 1915 and was called for service in June the following year. After training he was drafted to France on 29 September 1916, travelling overnight from Southampton to Rouen and joining the 11th Manchester Regiment on 12 October.
Private Hilditch was accidentally wounded in the arm on 23 November 1916; he was returning from a listening patrol when he caught his arm on a bayonet when jumping from the parapet. Alfred did not at first report the accident but the wound became septic and he was admitted to No. 35 Field Ambulance on 7 December, treated at No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station on 17 December and then sent to the hospital at Wimereux. Eventually, on 14 January 1917, he went to Etaples for a brief period of training before returning to his battalion on 5 February 1917.
Private Hilditch was reported to be missing on 14 August 1917 and it was later assumed that he had been killed on or after that date.
Private Hilditch's death was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 12 July 1918:
Mrs Hilditch, 37 Knight Street, has been notified that her husband, Pte Alfred Hilditch, is "presumed killed" on August 14th 1917. He had been posted missing from that date. Pte Hilditch joined the Cheshire Regiment in June, 1916, and was later transferred to the Manchester Regt. He was 34 years of age, was educated at St Paul's School, and was a member of the Church Choir. An elder brother, Gunner W Hilditch, is serving with the R.G.A. at Gibraltar.
COMMEMORATION
Private Alfred Hilditch has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel Ref. 120 to 124, 162 to 162A, and 163A of the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Alfred Hilditch, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
Private Alfred Hilditch is commemorated in Macclesfield on the Park Green, Town Hall, St Michael's Church, Park Street Methodist Church and Macclesfield Sunday School war memorials.
SOURCES
GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births
Cheshire Baptism Registers (Find My Past): St Paul’s Church, Macclesfield
Cheshire Marriage Registers (Find My Past): St Paul’s Church, Macclesfield
Census (England & Wales): 1901, 1911
WWI British Army Service Records 1914-1920
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Lives of the First World War website
Macclesfield Times: 12 July 1918
Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.