Name
Alfred John Welch
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/09/1916
28
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
5484
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
KNIGHTSBRIDGE CEMETERY, MESNIL-MARTINSART
C. 47.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Stevenage Old Town Memorial,
St Nicholas' Church Memorial, Stevenage Old Town,
Holy Trinity Church Memorial Roll of Honour, Stevenage Old Town,
Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford,
Not on the Royston memorials
Pre War
Alfred was born on the 16th December 1887, the son of Alfred & Annie Welch of Back Lane, Stevenage.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in the Hertfordshire Regiment on the 16th August 1915 and, following the completion of his training, was posted to France on the 13th May 1916, where the Battalion was preparing to take part in the Somme offensive.
He joined the Battalion for duty on the 10th June and was transferred to "D" Company on the 23rd June. The Unit War Diary describes the Battalion as being in the area North of the Ancre River, a hard fought area of the Somme battlefields, on the 3rd September 1916 but gives no indication of how Alfred became a casualty. The Battalion suffered two other casualties on this day and it can be reasonably assumed that all three were probably the victims of a shellfire incident.
He is buried in the Knightsbridge Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart, France.
Additional Information
www.stevenageatwar.com
Acknowledgments
Paul Johnson, Jonty Wild
