[Phoenix]

I only knew Elsie after she had retired as a cashier, when she was housekeeper to her widowed brother-in-law.

Her family moved from Hartlepool to Erith when she was small. She was the youngest of the family and married Arthur 22 March 1913.

Arthur died 12th November 1918. A fortnight away from her 29th birthday, she applied for her widow's pension.

Elsie survived her siblings and her two nieces. We continued to exchange Christmas cards after we moved away and she lived to celebrate her hundredth birthday.

We never met her nephew or nieces. As he may have inherited her genes and still be alive, I am not posting details of her extended family.

Seventy one years a war widow. The sad thing is that I don't believe that this would have been a record.