Can you help with information on this young soldier

[Drew-1918]

Well done everyone.

Just 19 years old! The inscription that his parents appear to have had inscribed on his stone really brings it home to me:

Remembered

[seaJane]

[Blackblue]

Nice pick up Drew. Very poignant.

TD

[alantaylor2004@hotmail.com]

I'm in the hope that the school will come back to me first as they may have some good information then I can put everything together for the Imperial War Museum and the CWGC

[FROGSMILE]

I'm in the hope that the school will come back to me first as they may have some good information then I can put everything together for the Imperial War Museum and the CWGC

As has been said by so many it is a poignant story and whilst there must be so many others along similar lines, you are to be congratulated Tony on the way in which you have brought this young man's history back to life, hopefully in such a way that he can be properly recorded by institutions of the Nation for which he gave his young life. Well done.

[MBrockway]

Hear hear.

Fantastic that another rifleman is remembered

[MBrockway]

You all may have spotted I'd asked Dick Flory whether he had any Wilson's Grammar School information in his collection of school Rolls of Honour. Unfortunately Dick has nothing.

[alantaylor2004@hotmail.com]

Hi there,

Just to give you an update. I have had a reply from the school and I attach the letter. I sent an e-mail to the CWGC who replied and just asked me to contact the Imperial War Museum, they did not want any photographs or information.

I have done that and am awaiting their reply.

Once again thanks for all the help that you have given its been a great learning curve for me and not only interesting but feel that some good has come out of it.

I have put a family tree on Ancestry of Bailey and I do hope that there may be some relation that in doing their research using Ancestry's hints is pointed to this tree and finds it helpful and of course sees the photograph.

Regards,

Alan

Hi there Nathan.docx

[Blackblue]

Nice one Alan,

Brings him back to life. Well done.

Tim D

[FROGSMILE]

Hi there,

Just to give you an update. I have had a reply from the school and I attach the letter. I sent an e-mail to the CWGC who replied and just asked me to contact the Imperial War Museum, they did not want any photographs or information.

I have done that and am awaiting their reply.

Once again thanks for all the help that you have given its been a great learning curve for me and not only interesting but feel that some good has come out of it.

I have put a family tree on Ancestry of Bailey and I do hope that there may be some relation that in doing their research using Ancestry's hints is pointed to this tree and finds it helpful and of course sees the photograph.

Regards,

Alan

Well done Alan, please let us know what the Imperial War Museum say in due course, as it will be interesting to see how they respond.

[MBrockway]

As regards the OBLI, I believe their TF rifles battalion - the Buckinghamshire Battalion - had a maltese cross on their corded boss rather than a strung bugle. The other battalions as Steven has said, wore the standard OBLI cap badge - no corded boss - and the gorget tabs.

I know this is now irrelevant to this Topic, but just wanted to close off any doubts about officers of the Buckinghamshire Battalion, OBLI, wearing corded boss or maltese cross cap badges.

They definitely wore the latter. See Pal @high wood's excellent picture here: Capt Lionel W Crouch 1/1st Bucks Btn Ox & Bucks L I

Mark

[brummell]

I've just been directed here by Mark in a reply to a thread I started today on 17/KRRC.

 

Mark mentioned the photo of Alfred Bailey, the subject of this thread. I have only recently seen this photo, through a contact at the school. I had no idea it had come from the forum until now. Reviewing this thread and all the work that went into it, it is strange to think that, had I happened to look at this thread when it started, I would have recognised Alfred straight away and saved everyone a lot of work! Not that we don't all rather enjoy the work...

I have been taking Wilson's cadets to Alfred's grave at Hamel for several years now, armed with the attached photograph (Alfred is standing on the right). How much better to be able to do so in future with a photograph of the man as he fought rather than the boy as he studied. Another 17/KRRC officer, Frank Brown, is sitting on the left. Standing next to Alfred is V.G.F. Shrapnel, who served in 8/East Surreys, was a descendant of the inventor of the shrapnel shell and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial.

I have done a fair amount of work on Alfred Bailey's service, should anyone be interested, as well as having more information which the headmaster did not send on to Alan.

Anyway, thank you very much to all who contributed to identifying that photograph.

- brummell

[brummell]

Further to the above, the prefects photograph dates from April 1914. The photograph attached to this post dates from April 1915, three months or so before Alfred Bailey was commissioned into 17/KRRC.

Alfred is standing third from the left. Shrapnel and Brown are seated in front of him. All but two of the young men in this photo saw service in the Great War; the remaining two had places at Cambridge University, which they took. Shrapnel and Brown had both won scholarships at Cambridge colleges, but chose to enlist instead.

- brummell

[alantaylor2004@hotmail.com]

This is really great, I have sent a PM message to brummell as I have attached my e-mail address and hope that I can get the other information that he has.

I have also just received a reply from the Imperial War Museum thanking me for the information and the photograph.

Regards,

Alan

[Blackblue]

Great news Gents,

Nice to see the photo now 100% confirmed.

Rgds

Tim D

[clk]

That's brilliant news Alan.

Your persistence, and the help others have given along the way, in bringing this man back from the anonymity of a car boot sale has to be applauded.

Regards

Chris

[Allison01]

Agreed, have been following this thread with interest, brilliant work by all involved

Allison

[FROGSMILE]

Fantastic news Alan that a single photograph, picked up at a boot sale, has revealed such a tragic personal story (and the face behind it) and reconnected the institutions with which this young man was associated. Great detective work by everyone too.

[brummell]

Alfred's grave at Hamel Military Cemetery. It is about three quarters of a mile from where he died. He was killed whilst waiting in no-man's-land to launch an attack which was eventually cancelled, the last surviving officer of his company that day.

- brummell

[FROGSMILE]

Here is a colour image of how his cap badge looked, although the style of cap is post WW1 with a different (spade) shaped peak.

[Martin Bennitt]

A very interesting story, with a successful conclusion. Congratulations. I have one question for Alan. Do you have any idea how and why the photograph ended up in a car boot sale?

Cheers Martin B

[alantaylor2004@hotmail.com]

No I'm afraid not, I did ask at the time but the seller said he had no knowledge. At the time I saw the writing on the back and again asked if he knew what it was and again he said that he couldn't make any sense of it.