Henry Caiger (survived)

Over 6.5 million British joined up during the Great War. Over 720,000 were killed and over 1 million wounded. Henry Caiger was one of the wounded, but he also represents the number of men who returned home safely in 1919.

Frederick Caiger had 5 daughters and at 40 years old was delighted when his sixth child was a boy. Henry George Caiger was born in Wokingham in 1892 and by the age of 19 he was living with his sister Margaret and her husband Albert in Acton, Middlesex. Like his father, he was a boot maker and no doubt he would want to ply his trade in a busy area which had plenty of demand for his skills.

Henry’s father Frederick, had moved to Wokingham with his family and they lived in Peach Street, in the town, with their Aunt Keizer and her husband John Fielder; Frederick was to inherit the shop and business and became an important part of Wokingham life. He was Deputy for the local Fire Brigade and from photos, could always be seen at the front of the engine and leading the way forward. With the backing of the Marquis of Downshire, a motor enthusiast, his crew always appeared immaculate, dressed in the fire-fighting industry’s latest livery. They were also the main attraction at local fairs, not least for their ability to boil water for the tea !

As Henry was a part of the 1/4^th Battalion in the Royal Berkshire Regiment, he was a territorial and therefore at war from the start.

The 1/4^th’s mobilised on the 5^th August 1914 and as such it is quite remarkable that he survived throughout the war, as most of the professional army had been decimated by 1915. Henry was injured as the photograph tells us, but he lived through it and was able to shake his father’s hand outside the Peach Shop on Victory Day, June 28^th 1919.

After the war, Henry married Dorothy Chitty in 1920 and lived for at least ten years, in Lewisham. At the time of his death in 1962, aged 70, Henry and Dorothy were back in Wokingham, living at 1 Molly Millars Lane.