Name
Alan Marlowe Bullock
10 January 1898
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
04/11/1918
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
London Regiment (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles)
15th (County of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
VALENCIENNES (ST. ROCH) COMMUNAL CEMETERY
III. B. 2.
France
Headstone Inscription
THE HAPPY WARRIOR
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead, Not on the Marlowes memorials
Pre War
Alan Marlowe Bullock was born on 10 January 1898 in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, the son of Owen and Rose Bullock, and twin to Edgar Marlowe. They were baptised at St Mary's Church, Hemel Hempstead on 15 January 1898. He was the youngest of five sons.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at 45 Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a Mechanical Engineer. His parents were originally from Oxfordshire and had lived in Berkshire and London before moving to Hemel Hempstead. They remained in Marlowes in 1911, living at No. 46, and his father was then working as an Engineer's Foreman Fitter. Alan and Edgar were educated at Bury Mill End school from 1903 until 1910. A local newspaper report stated that he was a fine athlete and swimmer.
He was appointed as a Boy Clerk in the Stores Department of the General Post Office in August 1913, having trained at King George's College, Kingsway, London.
Wartime Service
Alan volunteered in Bedford a few months after his 18th birthday and joined the 15th Battalion, London Regiment (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles). He was sent to Hazeley Down Camp near Winchester for basic training and was promoted to Lance Corporal (reg. no. 6951/533614). He later applied for a commission and was transferred to No. 21 Officer Cadet Battalion at Crookham, near Fleet, Hampshire for training, after which he re-joined his original regiment and battalion on 18 December 1917 as 2nd Lieutenant.
He was sent to France in April 1918 and posted to 1/4th Battalion, London Regiment. In July he contracted 'Trench Fever' and spent six weeks in hospital, returning to his Battalion in mid August. He was then appointed as Intelligence Officer and was responsible for collection of information and liaising with units on the front line, as well as keeping the war diary.
On 12 October he was granted home leave and returned to Hemel Hempstead to see family and friends, telling them how much he enjoyed army life. Sadly he was never to return, as in early November he was with a patrol on reconnaissance work when they came under fire and he was killed in action on 4 November, aged 20, only a week before the Armistice. He is buried at Valenciennes Communal Cemetery, France.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £7 10s and pay owing of £66 10s 10d. She also obtained probate on his estate in London with effects of £199 7s 11d. All of Alan's four brothers served in the war and survived. His twin brother Edgar lived in Benfleet, Essex in 1939 and ran a newsagent, tobacconist and confectionery shop. He died in Southend in 1980.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild. www.dacorumheritage.org.uk., www.hemelatwar.org., www.hemelheroes.com
