This is perhaps a long shot, but here it goes:
A great-aunt told me once that she worked as a nurse during WW2; one of the soldiers she nursed was a man with the surname Vickress, who happened to be a distant cousin whom the family wished her to marry. The marriage never materialised, but I always wondered who the cousin was, how he lost the leg and what became of him after the war. The family lived in Shropshire for a time but originally came from Herefordshire and I believe finally relocated back there.
I have located the Vickress family in my ancestry and managed to pin-point several likely candidates, all of whom were the sons of John Vickress (1890-1954) and his wife Ellen Louisa (née Rawlings). Of their six sons, I have eliminated the eldest (William) as he was already married by 1939. The youngest son Derick (deceased) was born in 1929 so I presume too young to have gone to war.
That leaves the following as possible candidates:
Austen (b.1918), who married in 1960.
Robert (b. 1921), died unmarried.
Arthur Reginald (when by the name Reginald, b. 1923), married in 1952.
Lawton (b. 1925), married 1949.
All are now deceased. Another possible candidate is their first cousin, William Charles Vickress, b. 1921, who married in 1947. All other men in the family are either too old/young or else are related to the Vickresses via the female line.
I have not managed to find any WW2 records for them or any other likely candidate which would seem to back my great-aunt's story, but I don't think she would have made it up. Can anyone help?
Many thanks,
Cimbrio
