Thomas Frederick Owen was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on the 2nd January 1890.
He was the son of Thomas Owen and his Manchester-born wife, Georgina (nee Wicks).
On the 1891
census the family were living in Congleton, near Macclesfield.
By the 1901 census the family was living in Allerton, near Bradford and now included 7 year old Richard Henry Stanley Owen, who had been born in Manchester.
In 1911 they are recorded as living at number 10, Bridson Street, in Clarksfield, Oldham. Thomas was a railway clerk and his brother, Richard, was working for the Oldham Co-Op.
In 1912, Thomas married Hannah Ogden. Their two daughters Vera and Winifred (always known as May) were born before the outbreak of the Great War. Their only son Stanley was born in 1922. Of the three, only May went on have children.
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The 9th Battalion of the Manchesters was a Territorial Force battalion but, as no Service Record is found in the indexes for Thomas, it isn't clear when he enlisted.
However, we can see from the Medal Index Card that he first served in a Theatre of War after the beginning of 1916 ... |
Family believe that Thomas suffered in a gas attack but the date and location are not known.
What we do know, from the website of the International Committee of the Red Cross list of POWs, is that on the 21st March 1918 he was captured at Hargicourt, on the Somme, just south-east of Amiens. From the faintly pencilled word, 'Guestrow', at the top of the page, we know he was a prisoner in the POW camp at Gustrow, Mecklenbourg. It also tells us his date of birth and his home address of Stafford Street, Werneth, Oldham
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