<<<<<In a message dated 18/04/2004 13:49:09 GMT Daylight Time, ADRABBOTT@aol.com writes: It has been suggested that his employment as a tram conductor may have been given out of sympathy to a man invalided out of the forces.>>>> After the war started it was not long before it caused a drain on manpower, and so to relieve the strain women were taken on as conductors. The first ten started on 9th June, 1915, and eventually all 85 conductors were female. By 1917 no less than 152 men were in the forces and the whole of the cleaning staff had been replaced by men exempt from military service. When the war ended the men returned and by 1920 the female conductors had all retired. ('The Tramways of Sunderland') From the above it looks as though anyone invalided out of the forces would more likely have been employed on the cleaning staff. Regards Stan Mapstone