Eric Alfred Fiddian MBE (1893 - 1968)

Born 8 Apr 1893 in Trichinopoly, India

Ancestors

Husband of Marjorie Lisle (Holdsworth) Fiddian — married Apr 1918 in Wandsworth, Surrey, England

Died 20 Jul 1968 at age 75 in Parrotts, Rogate, Sussex, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Paul Fiddian [send private message]

Biography

Major Eric Alfred Fiddian SGM MBE was born on 8 April 1893 at Trichinopoly, India. He was the fourth son of James Fiddian and Ella Vasey. He attended The Leys School, Cambridge, matriculating in 1911. He then attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge and St Bartholomew's Hospital, graduating MD, FRCS.

At seventeen years of age in 1911^[1], Eric was boarding with Reverend William West Holdsworth and his family at Handsworth, Staffordshire. Seven years later he would marry the Holdsworth's daughter, Marjorie Holdsworth.

Eric had enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves (RNVR) in 1911 and in 1914 was a Surgeon Probationer in the RNVR on HMS Nereide. In 1916 he was promoted to acting Surgeon Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. During the war he served on HMS Nereide (a torpedo-boat destroyer), HMS Glory (battleship) and at RN Depot, Crystal Palace. In 1918 he was promoted to full Surgeon Lt after being awarded the Bronze Sea Gallantry Medal (officially the Board of Trade Medal for Saving Life at Sea) for rescuing a shipwrecked British crew.

Eric and Marjorie married in April 1918^[2] at Wandsworth, London but there were no children.

After the war Eric established a general practice at Letchworth/Baldock, Hertfordshire until 1925, then at Eastbourne, Sussex.

From 1939 to 1948 Eric once more donned uniform and served his nation, this time in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Initially a Lieutenant , he was promoted to Captain in 1942 and served in Italy running the No.1 Casualty Clearing Station. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 29 Nov 1945 and promoted to temporary Major on 13 December 1945, which was later made substantive. Eric was an acting Lt Colonel when he relinquished his commission in 1948 and retained the rank of Major. He received the 1939/45 Star and War Medals, the 1943/45 Italy Star and an Oak Leaf emblem & certificate and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

He died, aged 75 years, on 29 July 1968^[3] at Reigate, Surrey, England.^[4].

Sources

1. ↑ 1911 Census: "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWW4-GYF : 4 July 2019), Eric Alfred Fiddian in household of William West Holdsworth, Handsworth, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images
2. ↑ Marriage: "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26VQ-5Q9 : 13 December 2014), Eric A Fiddian and null, 1918; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database
3. ↑ Death: "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCG-PP2F : 1 November 2021), Eric A Fiddian, 1968
4. ↑ UK FreeBMD Death Index wtr 1968, vol , page