Name
Albert Harry Truslove
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
12/04/1919
31
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
40758
Dorsetshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
DOULLENS COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION NO.2
I. F. 13.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Bushey Heath memorials
Pre War
Born in Bushey Heath on 6 February 1888 and baptised in Bushey on 29 April 1888, Albert Harry was the son of William Cornelius and Emma (nee Pickles) Truslove. His parents were married in 1874 in the registration district of St. George Hanover Square.
At the 1891 census, Albert was three years old and lived with his parents and four siblings in Bushey Heath. William and Emma were 45 and 44 years old respectively and William was employed as a collector for Colne Valley Water Company. Albert’s siblings were called William Cornelius (Jnr.), George John, Elizabeth Frances and Montague Herbert, who were 16, 14, 12 and 10 years old respectively. Birthplaces were given as Leamington in Warwickshire for William Cornelius (Snr.), Sunninghill in Berkshire for Emma, St George Hanover Square in London for William Cornelius (Jnr.) and George and Bushey Heath in Hertfordshire for the remaining four children.
By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to 4 Sussex Villas, Harrow Weald in Middlesex and Albert was 13 years old. William Cornelius (Jnr.) had left home but Albert’s other three siblings were still present. William was still employed as a water company collector and had now been joined in the same role by George and Montague.
At the 1911 census, Albert had left home and was living at Mylesdown, 1B Rosebery Road in Bushey, the home of his eldest brother, William Cornelius (Jnr.), and his wife Mary Louisa (nee Floyde) Truslove. William and Mary had married in 1901, in the registration district of Watford, and they had an eight-year-old son named William John. William Cornelius (Jnr.) was employed as an assistant collector for Colne Valley Water Company and Albert was working as a coachman. The birthplaces for Mary and William John were given as Bow in North Devon and Bushey Heath respectively.
Wartime Service
Albert enlisted on 1 September 1914 as Private 11843 in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, giving his occupation at that time as a porter. He was discharged on 27 February 1915 under Kings Regulations for an unspecified conduct issue in Bodmin, Cornwall.
Albert re-enlisted as Private 40758 with the Dorsetshire Regiment and served with the 1st Battalion in France. He was subsequently transferred as Private 156857 to the 261st Prisoner of War Company of the Labour Corps. He died, aged 31, on 12 April 1919 and was buried at Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No 2, grave reference I.F.13, on the Somme. He was entitled to the British War and Victory medals.
The Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects recorded his service number as Private 307420 and states that his death was at 18 Casualty Clearing Station in France. His pension card also gave his service number as 307420 and stated that his death was from Pneumonia. It is possible this was a complication from the influenza epidemic which occurred between 1918 and 1920 and is estimated to have killed up to 40 million people, typically in the age range 20 to 40 years.
The pension card named his mother, Emma Truslove, as his dependant, with an address of 105 Crescent Road, Alexandra Park in Wood Green. This address was subsequently crossed through and updated with 43 Cassio Road, Watford, which is changed again back to the Wood Green address.
The Commonwealth War Graves database states, “Son of Mr. and Mrs. W Truslove of Sussex Villas, Bushey Heath, Watford, Herts.”
Additional Information
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
