Born and Bred
A Yorkshire Family
Albert Claybrough
Albert's Story
Shortly after leaving school, in early 1920, Albert went to work at Nunn's Farm in Carlton as a farm labourer, specifically a 'horseman'. Back then the horseman was skilled at his job and began work about 4am to prepare the horses for the day's work.
The horses had to be fed in time to digest their food before being turned out. As the horses worked a good eight hour day their morning feed had to be substantial enough to carry them through the day. The feed was usually 'chaff' - the cut hay and straw.
The horseman had to check the condition of their shoes, particularly the heavy horses and also prepare the harness for those horses involved in ploughing and pulling the farm wagons and carts. Back then tractors were expensive and not that common, the heavy horse was still the mainstay of power on the farm.
By the time he married Elsie Handforth in 1933 he is listed as a "Dairyman", and he was now living in Oulton.
Their only son, Ken, was born in 1934 and by 1939 they had moved back to Carlton and were living at 5 Ward's Yard, close to Nunn's Farm where he had worked previously. The place no longer exists, but I believe it used to be in the vicinty of the present day social club. Albert was no longer working as a Dairyman but had become a "Market Gardener".
By the end of 1940, they had moved again and were now living at 39 Northfield Avenue, where they would all continue to live until early in the 1950s when he and his family would move to Rothwell, into a newly built house at 65 Manor Road just off Wood Lane.
With the Second World War in full flow, Albert was assessed for service in the army under the National Service (Armed Forces) Acts on the 9th of January 1941 at Templar House, Lady Lane, Leeds. Following a medical examination he was classed as "A2" (Fit for overseas duties as regards physical and mental health).
He was almost 36 years old, 5ft 6in tall and weighed 144lbs. He was transported to Newquay where on the 13th of March 1941 he was enlisted in the Royal Artillery as Private 1781685 Albert Claybrough.
On the 23rd of September 1941, possibly due to a training accident, Albert suffered a "knee wound". This would continue to cause him problems throughout the rest of his military service and on the 3rd of February 1942 a medical board downgraded his fitness to "C" (Free from serious organic diseases, suitable for home service). He would never see active overseas service after all.
By October 1942 he had been promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer in the British Army.
As he was no longer fit enough to serve overseas on active service, on the 6th of April 1943 he was transferred to the Pioneer Corps and was posted to 107 POW Camp (Penleigh Camp, Wookey Hole, Wells, Somerset), where he was to spend the rest of the war guarding Italian POWs.
Following the end of the war, Albert was finally discharged on the 17th of November 1945 after serving a total of 4 years and 250 days. He subequently went to work at Bentley's Yorkshire Breweries in Oulton, where he worked as a "Brewery Labourer" until he retired.
Albert had a number of health issues including a long standing diabetes problem and all this impacted on his later life and no doubt contributed to his death a few years after retiring.