Joseph's Story.
Joseph had been born within the parish of St Marks Church, Bredbury. His parents, Mr & Mrs Charles Blackburn later moved to live at 160 Newbridge Lane, Stockport. He worked at Pear Tree Mill, Lower Bredbury and lived with his wife, Mabel, at 132 Newbridge Lane. He enlisted, at Stockport, during September 1914. The local newspaper, reporting his death, referred to him as being in the Battalion’s Machine Gun Section. At this time, battalions were equipped with about four Lewis guns, each operated by two men (one to fire; one to carry and load the ammunition). They would have advanced with their comrades to give covering fire for the attack. As such, they were often the target of the enemy. Joseph was originally reported as being “missing” after the attack. It was not until January 1917 that the military authorities made an official presumption that he had been killed. His body was never found and identified. By the early 1920s, when the Imperial War Graves Commission was collating casualty information, Mabel had remarried (to a Mr Bowden) and had moved down the road to live at 259 Newbridge Lane.