Name
Andrew Slough
1898
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
11/07/1916
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
21726
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
15th Bn.
"B" Coy.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LONDON CEMETERY AND EXTENSION, LONGUEVAL
10.E.23.
France
Headstone Inscription
None Form completed, but note to say father died 10.11.19.
UK & Other Memorials
St John the Evangelist Church Memorial, Boxmoor,
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial,
John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Apsley Mills, Apsley
Pre War
Andrew Slough was born in 1897 in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, the son of Henry Isaac and Emily Slough, and one of 14 children, although two died in infancy.
The family had lived in St Albans, with his older siblings being born there, but they moved to Boxmoor when his father started a new job at John Dickinson & Co Ltd in 1885. On the 1901 Census the family were living at 42 London Road, Two Waters, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a Paper Machine Fitter.
His 11 year old brother Richard died in 1901 and his mother died in 1906. He started school at Two Waters on 1 February 1905 and left on 9 February 1912 at the age of 14 to start work at John Dickinson & Co. with his father. On the 1911 Census he remained with his father, living at 42 London Road, and stayed working for John Dickinson & Co. (paper manufacturer) at Apsley Mills until enlistment.
His father later lived at 37 Bridge Street, Hemel Hempstead, Herts before his death in 1919.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Holborn, London in October 1914 and joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was posted to the 15th Battalion (1st London Welsh), Royal Welsh Fusiliers,. He was sent for basic training initially in the London area, and later in Winchester, Hants and was mobilised with the Battalion, which sailed from Southampton to Le Havre, arriving in France on 3 December 1915.
They were sent to the trenches for the first time on 19 December at La Gorgue, near Armentieres, but their first major action was in July 1916 when they received orders to attack Mametz Wood which was heavily fortified but of key importance in the Battle of the Somme. Andrew was killed in action on 11 July 1916, age 19, when the 38th (Welsh) Division suffered heavy losses while driving German forces out of Mametz Wood. He is buried at the London Cemetery and Extension, Llongueval, France.
N.B. he was initially buried on the battlefield and 'concentrated' after the war, being exhumed and reburied.
Additional Information
Although initially an unknown British soldier, he was identified from a razor marked "SLOUGH 21726" and a watch with guarantee marked "Reading".
It also appears that his family intended for his headstone to have a personal inscription, but that his father died before the order was completed.
His father received a war gratuity of £7 10s and pay owing of £9 0s 3d. He also received a pension of 10 shillings a week in respect of his two sons, Albert and Andrew.
Brother to Albert Joseph Slough who served in the Royal Navy and was killed in action on 31 May 1916 on HMS Queen Mary and Robert J Slough who served with the 6th Labour Company, Devonshire Regiment and was killed in action on 15 April 1918. All three brothers are named on the Boxmoor Church Memorial and Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial.
His brother Edward served with the Queen Victoria Rifles but survived the war.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk, www.hemelatwar.org., www.hemelheroes.com.
