RIFLEMAN MICHAEL HENRY RIDE
KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS
30TH SEPTEMBER 1915 AGE 19
BURIED: BEDFORD HOUSE CEMETERY, YPRES, BELGIUM
A lovely tribute from 'Dad' but nevertheless rather a strange inscription. 'Dad', George Ride, had nine children, of whom Michael was the fourth. Eight of them were still living in the family home at the time of the 1911 census, the three eldest boys all working in a wallpaper factory, as was their father. The three included Michael who was 14.
Michael enlisted within ten days of the outbreak of war and was in France with the 7th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps by the end of May 1915. He was killed on 30 September. George Ride signed for his son's inscription. It seems strangely partisan; the children's mother was still alive, so were his other eight children. Perhaps we just have to accept it - Michael was his favourite child.