Thomas Edwin's Story.
Edwin Mason was 30 when he married in 1883. His bride was 18-year-old Eliza Bradley and the service was held at St Mary’s Church, Heaton Reddish. Thomas was born a few months later. He had a younger sister, Florrie, born in about 1886. When the census was taken in 1901, the family was living at 20 Mellor Street, Portwood and Thomas was working as a cotton spinner in one of the local mills.
In 1906, Thomas married Margaret Alice Peel at Tiviot Dale Methodist Church. 
By 1911 the family were living at 12 Parsonage Street, Heaton Norris, Stockport, the census shows Thomas working as a Parcel Porter, they had two children, Florrie 4 years old and Clifford 1, the following year, they would have another child together, Cyril who was born in 1912. By the time of the Great War he had changed jobs and was then working for British Westinghouse at the company’s factory in Trafford Park. He enlisted into the army, probably as a conscript, at Manchester and was assigned to the Cheshire Regiment. His service number was 243642 which is consistent with him being a member of the 5th Battalion – one of its pre-war Territorial units. Six-digit numbers were not issued until the beginning of 1917, dating his departure from Britain to go on active service to after this. 
The above letter Thomas sent to his son Clifford, Clifford was 9 when his father was killed, he kept this letter safe all his life.
Dear Clifford
I answer to your letter this morning which I received, not killed any Germans yet how you going on with your cig cards I have plenty more for you in my kit bag for you will not know me I come home in my soldiers clothes as I look quite different now. I think this is all I can tell you tonight
From your ever loving
Daddy
At some point he was transferred to the Berkshires. It is possible that this was immediately on arrival in France and might have occurred if the Berkshires were suddenly in desperate need of replacement troops. Roeux was a small village alongside the Arras – Douai railway. Its main pre-war employer was a large agricultural chemical works and the area around the works was the scene of intense fighting from April 1917 until the late autumn. During the afternoon of 18 November, the army conducted an exercise which may have cost Thomas his life. At 3pm, there was a large-scale discharge of smoke across the British front line which drifted towards the Germans. The intention was to see what would happen and if it would deceive them into thinking that an attack was imminent. They would then fire off all their artillery ammunition and be out of supply when the real attack followed later. Perhaps there was a further intent to do this several times with no attack taking place so the German sentries would eventually stop “crying wolf”. The plan certainly worked, and the Germans shelled the British trenches. For protection most troops had been withdrawn from the front trenches and it was only lightly held. Thomas may well have been one of those holding the front line. In the early evening, the troops on the right raided the enemy trench and the Germans again retaliated with shelling. If the afternoon bombardment had not killed Thomas, the evening one certainly did. After a period of grieving, Margaret remarried in 1921, her new husband was John Woolley and they are known to have lived at 5 Cecil Street, Stockport. In 1919 Margaret received a small war gratuity of £3. 
The Cheshire Roll of Honour would like to thank Bernard Mason for the pictures of Thomas Edwin, the letter and ID tag.