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Description
This is the story of Edwin Titchener (1921-1998) (Uncle Eddie), a rifleman during the Second World war shared with us by Craig Titchener.
Edwin Titchener was the son of Ernest William Titchener and Eliza Jane Titchener née Puddy. Edwin was born in Chepstow on the 2nd of April 1921. He married Ann Hutchinson in 1942 where they moved to Pontypool and then Cwmbran (see 12th and 13th photo). During the War, Edwin served in the 7th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) as a Rifleman. You can see an example of the training that he received in the 11th photograph. It is also worth noting that the regiment misspelt Ediwn's surname (see 10th photo).
During the War, Edwin (Uncle Eddie) sent lots of love letters to his wife while he was serving for his country. The only injury Edwin suffered was an injury to his knee when a sniper shot at him, he dived to the ground, landing on some broken glass! After the War, he returned home to Ann. They never had any children, but they were a perfect couple and remained married past the fifty-year mark until Ann died in 1995.
Edwin had two brothers, Ivor Titchener (1918-1992) and Ernest Elysee Titchener (1923-1984) (see photo 14). Ivor moved to Pontypool and lived with Edwin for a while after the War (see images 15-19). Ivor married Patricia Maskill in 1941, but the wedding was short-lived because of an affair between Patricia and Ivor's younger brother, Ernest. Ivor moved to Germany to study art then Australia where, in a letter to Edwin, said he was living the bohemian lifestyle and was looking for the meaning to life. Edwin hadn't seen Ivor for over forty years. It was later discovered that Ivor had died in May 1992.
Ernest was an errand boy for Thomas's stores in Chepstow during his childhood. His middle name Elysee was given to him by his Godfather, although not much is known about him except that he was a French/Canadian who was a family friend. Ernest married Ellen Davies in 1952 and became a father to Pamela and Patricia (Craig's mother). Craig still has Ernest's guitar (see photo 21). Ernest passed away on the 4th of June 1984, at age 60 (Craig's 7th Birthday). In the last picture, you can see Craig sitting on his grandfather Earnest's knee in 1977.
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