John Whiddett was born in Hammersmith, Middlesex, in 1892, and was one of thirteen children to Alfred and Mary Ann Whiddett. Alfred was a house painter while Mary Ann worked as a charwoman to bring in some additional money for the growing family.

John worked as a porter when he left school, but when war came to Europe, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment in the summer of 1915, and was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion.

While Private Whiddett served in France, he returned to Britain, and promoted to Corporal and then Lance Serjeant. His battalion eventually formed part of the Thames & Medway Garrison. Frederick found himself in Kent by the autumn of 1917 and served out the remainder of the war there.

At some point during the autumn of 1918, Lance Serjeant Whiddett fell ill. He was admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia. Sadly he was not to survive these lung conditions, and he succumbed to them on 22nd November 1918. He was just 26 years of age.

Finances may have restricted John’s family’s ability to bring his body back to Middlesex. Instead, he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, Kent.

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