Southam in WW1
Centenary Archive
Honouring those who died and all who served
Private Albert John (Bertie) Gardner
Bertie Gardner was a former pupil of Southam Council School. His name was announced in the Warwick Advertiser in May 1915 on a list of thirty-five serving men who were former scholars.[1] His brothers John, Ernest and Frank were also listed. They were the sons of lime worker Alfred Gardner and his wife Annie of Appendix Street. By 1915 Annie had been a widow for a decade.
Bertie was born in 1896 and his father died when he was only eight-years old. Several years after he had enlisted, aged just twenty-one, he married Matilda J. Delabie.
All the brothers survived the war but nothing is known of Bertie’s military service and post-war career. He would have been awarded three medals: 1914/15 Star, Victory and British medals.
Below is a photograph of the school in around 1910. Bertie and some of his brothers are likely to be shown.
[1] Warwick Advertiser 1st May 1915.