Name
Albert Fowler
1877
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
08/06/1917
40
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
201972
Northamptonshire Regiment
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
DICKEBUSCH NEW MILITARY CEMETERY EXTENSION
III. C. 21.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
St Mary's Church Memorial, Apsley End, John Dickinson Memorial, Apsley Mills, Apsley, Marlowes Methodist Church, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, Waddesdon Methodist Church Memorial, Bucks, Waddesdon Village Memorial, Bucks
Pre War
Alfred Fowler was born on 18 October 1876 in Waddesdon, Bucks, the son of John and Mary Fowler and baptised on 22 January 1877 at St Michael and all Angels, Waddesdon. He was one of seven children, although one died in infancy.
On the 1881 Census the family were living at 3 Quainton Road, Waddesdon, where his father was an agricultural labourer. By 1891 they had moved to the High Street, Waddesdon, where his father was a Labourer (Gardens).
By the 1901 Census Alfred had moved out of the family home and was a boarder living with Harry and Ellen Gain in 177 Desborough Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire and working on the Railway as a Labourer.
His father died in 1904 aged 53 and in 1911 his widowed mother was living at Frederick Street, Waddesdon with four of his siblings and Alfred was listed on the 1911 Census as a visitor at the house of Annie Comrie and her son John at 48 Frewell Buildings, Bourne Estate, Holborn, London and was working as a musician in the theatre.
In late 1911 he married Margaret Fowler at Waddesdon (she was a distant cousin) and they lived at 17 Winifred Road in Apsley, nr. Hemel Hempstead. Alfred was working at Apsley Mills on enlistment.
Wartime Service
When war broke out, Alfred was not obliged to enlist as he was married and was nearly 38 but when the Military Services Act in May 1916 increased the age limit and included married men, he was eligible for service and he attested in June 1916 in Hemel Hempstead. One source suggests that he may initially have joined the 3rd Bucks Battalion but when he was sent to France, probably in early 1917, he was posted to the 7th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.
The Battalion fought in the Battle of Messines in 1917 and on 7 June started to move into position, immediately coming under very heavy German shelling, causing some casualties. In the early hours of the following day they attacked and were successful in gaining enemy ground, however, at 10.00 pm they came under a significant German barrage which is when Alfred and nineteen other soldiers were wounded. They were taken to No. 4 Light Field Ambulance for treatment but Alfred died of his wounds on 8 June 1917, aged 40, and is buried in the Dickesbusch New Military Cemetery Extension, Belgium.
Additional Information
His father in law Wm Fowler received a war gratuity of £3 and his widow received his pay owing of £2 19s 3d. His widow Margaret, died in the summer of 1918. She was cycling down a hill when her brakes failed and she went straight into a bridge and was killed outright. Her family took her body home to Waddesdon where she was buried on 3 August in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels. Alfred is also commemorated on her gravestone in Waddesdon churchyard.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk., www.hemelheroes.com. www.mymethodisthistory.org.uk
