Born in September 1898, Wilfred Vailes Hickman was the son of Louisa Hickman and Joseph Hickman, a shipping clerk. In 1911, the family was living at 22 Oakfield Road, Ilford, Essex. Wilfred attended the Coopers Company School in Bow in 1908 to 1913. He enlisted at Warley recruitment office in Essex, where he was recorded as a dental technician.
Wilfred was part of the Honourable Artillery Company and was on the Italian front between November 1917 and November 1918, fighting the Austrians.
Wilfred died of wounds on the 30th June 1918 and is buried at the Boscon British Cemetery. His parents also had his name engraved on the family gravestone in Ilford Cemetery (Also known as Buckingham Road Cemetery).
Some information / extracts have been reproduced with kind permission of Karen Pack from her book ‘Coopers’ Boys & Coborn Girls: Their Part in the Great War’ © Karen Pack, 2015
Sources:
Ancestry.com
ICHS school records and magazines
Commonwealth War Graves Commission