Private Wilbur Thomas Rendall
Wilbur Thomas Rendall was born on 29 October 1899 in Malden, Massachusetts, USA, the third or fourth of four children of Jersey (Channel Islands) -born parents, John Edward Rendall and his wife Eliza Ann (née Le Huget). The following year the family returned to the UK. At the time of the 1911 Census Wilbur was living at 94 St Saviour Road, Jersey, with his parents and two surviving siblings, his father working as a market gardener.
Rendall enlisted or was called-up between 1916 and 1918, although when and with which regiment is not presently known. On 12 September 1918 he was one of 56 men from various English yeomanry regiments who were compulsorily transferred to the Corps of Hussars – he was issued regimental number 81237.
On the same day they embarked at Folkestone for Boulogne, where they were posted to the 1st North Irish Horse (V Corps Cyclist) Regiment. They joined the regiment in the field on or soon after 18 September, and were assigned to A, D and E Squadrons, joining in the fighting during the Advance to Victory offensive in the final weeks of the war.
On 22 October 1918 Rendall was transferred to the Labour Corps (No.636123).
By 1920 Rendall was living at The Lodge, Southgate, London, and working as a gardener. On 7 July that year he married widow Lily Bavister (née Johnson) in St Michael's Church, Wood Green. (Lily's first husband, Frederick Bavister, had served in the Royal Horse Artillery and died of wounds in Belgium on 1 August 1917.) At the time of the 1939 Register they were living at 52 Hood Avenue, Southgate, with their children, Wilbur working as a private gardener and handyman. He died in Enfield, London, in 1990.