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Worthy Vickery was born in Thornford to James and Sarah, in 1884. His father was an agricultural labourer in 1891 and by 1911, Worthy had become a butler to a family in Herefordshire. We know from his CWGC record (see below) and a marriage record in 1917, that his wife was Mary Ward, but we know of no children. It would be likely to be a small family as Worthy and Mary were married for less than. How Worthy, a man from Dorset and Herefordshire came to know Mary and marries in Wokingham, we do not as yet know. As Mary is living in Crowthorne at the time of Worthy’s death, we may assume that Mary was a native of Berkshire. The Ward name makes a number of appearances in the Berkshire area.
Worthy, true to his place of birth, joins the Devonshire Regiment (date unknown). Infantry regiments, such as the Devonshires, were at the forefront of the Great War and took much of the shovel work, the fighting and the casualties. We know Worthy was in the 1st Battalion and as his age over 30 in 1914, it is possible he was a regular right from the start. Many of the Old Contemptibles were lost by the First Battle of Ypres in 1915 and therefore Worthy managed to hold his luck until the months before Armstice Day. He was finally killed during the German Advance of April 1918.
Commonwealth Graves Commission Information: Name:VICKERY, WORTHY Initials:W Nationality:United Kingdom Rank:Corporal Regiment/Service:Devonshire Regiment Unit Text:2nd Coy. 1st Bn. Age:33 Date of Death:14/04/1918 Service No:49034 Additional information: Son of James and Sarah Vickery, of Sherborne, Dorset; husband of May Vickery, of Pinewood Avenue, Crowthorne, Berks. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War DeadGrave/ Memorial Reference:Plot I. Row A. Grave 10. Cemetery: MORBECQUE BRITISH CEMETERY ‘Morbecque British Cemetery was made by the 5th Division in April 1918 during the German advance. The 29th Division also buried casualties in the cemetery before it was closed in June of the same year. There are now 105 First World War burials in the cemetery. The cemetery was designed by G H Goldsmith’.
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