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Gertrude May Tollerfield Williams
was born on 29th August 1922 at 4 Kingston Terrace, Cumberland Street, Hull. She was the first child of Happy Irene Williams, a housekeeper and Robert Herbert Tollerfield, an oil miller who worked for R&W Paulls in Wincolmlee. She was the first member of the family to be born in Hull, with father Robert coming from Sheffield and mother Happy coming from Witnesham in Suffolk. She was the third addition to the growing family, as Happy had two children, Peggy and Fred, from her previous marriage to Frederick Ernest Williams, a ship steward from Camberwell.

Although known as Gertie to family members, she preferred to call herself Trudie. She was shy, gentle young woman who never bothered or complained about anything to anyone. Looks-wise, it is said that Gertrude very much resembled her father. She was close to all ten of her brothers and sisters. In fact, she was such a shy young woman that she never had a boyfriend according to any of the family.

She attended Craven Street School after the family moved from Cumberland Street to Waller Street on Holderness Road. After finishing school, Gertrude worked at the cod liver oil factory on Hedon Road (Now Seven Seas), although it鈥檚 possible that before she began working there that she was in domestic service.

On signing up to the army during WW2, she became the third generation on her father鈥檚 side to serve her country through the army (Father Robert was a Sergeant in the Royal Field Artillery during WW1, and her grandfather, John Tollerfield, served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery and served in the Crimea and South Africa).

After being in the ATS for two or three years, Gertrude contracted Tuberculosis, and subsequently was invalided out of the army. As a result of her illness, the family had to watch the well-built, sunshine complexion turn into a frail and gaunt shadow of herself.

Gertrude died at the family home at 59 Church Street in Drypool, 13 days after her birthday, on 11 th September 1944 after a very hard and tiring battle against consumption. She was 22 years old. She became the second member, as well as the second daughter, of the family to fall to TB.

She was buried in Hedon Road Cemetery with full military honours.

The engraving which was picked by her mother Happy to be put on her gravestone is said to sum up Gertrude perfectly:

She never complained
She wasn鈥檛 that kind
What a lovely memory
To leave behind

61 years on, she is still overwhelmingly missed by the family members who knew her best.

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