Pte 202814 Alfred Ball

Alfred was born on 9th December 1896 at 27 Hartnup Street which is opposite the Liverpool F.C. Anfield stadium to Meriden, Warwickshire born ostler, Alfred Ball and his Birmingham born wife Laura (nee Ashford). They married  on 17th April 1893 in Meriden, Sheldon, Warwickshire where there is a monument, marking the exact centre of England, there is also an Obelisk War Memorial to all the Army Cyclists involved in WW1.

The couple had an older son, Frederick, who was born in Derby in 1894, so at some point between 1894 and Alfred’s birth the family moved to Liverpool. Alfred was baptised on the 30th December 1896 at St Cuthbert's, C of E Church in Everton, his father is recorded as an ostler.

The 1901 Census shows 4 year old Alfred still at 27 Hartnup Street Everton but the index has wrongly transcribed the surname as Bull not Ball, the original entry is clearly Ball.

His father, Alfred is aged 32, is recorded as a railway porter, mother Laura is also 32, Frederick is 6.

The 1911 Census shows 14 year old scholar Alfred living with his parents and brother at Midland Railway Cottage, Houlgrave Street Liverpool.

His father Alfred is aged 46, a horsekeeper for the railway stables, mother Laura is aged 45 (married 17 years 2 children), and his brother Frederick aged 16 is an office boy for a coal merchant. This address is a few streets away from the old Midland railway station and the docks. 

Alfred enlisted in Liverpool as Private 202814 joining the 18th (Pals) Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. He was killed in action on 31st July 1917 during the opening day of the 3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).

On this day, before Zero Hour, the 18^th Battalion was part of 21^st Brigade and was to form up for the attack from trenches from the area of Sanctuary Wood to Observatory Ridge but it was dark and continually falling rain gave very poor visibility. The departure of the 21^st Brigade was delayed by heavy shelling.

The 18^th King’s began to move forward in the rear of the 2^nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment who had been detailed as the left attacking battalion of the 21^st Brigade.

No’s 1 and 3 Companies of the King’s led the way followed by No’s 2 and 4. In Sanctuary Wood there was considerable confusion, as a result  No.2 and No.4 Companies became separated from the others, and were moved over to the left flank towards positions known as Surbiton Villas and Clapham Junction in the direction of the 90^th Brigade.

No.1 and 3 Companies were soon in action with the enemy, and were for a time, held up against an enemy strong point. They pushed forward with their right on a trench known as Jar Row and their left on the tramway south of Stirling Castle. Advance along Jar Row was held up by the Germans who put up a fierce resistance and the party was forced to withdraw.

Another group of men from No.1 and No.3 Companies led by 2^nd Lieut Graham were being held up by another strongpoint which was south of Stirling Castle, which was eventually stormed and taken.  Not far away from this action,  an attempt, by other men of No.1 and No.3 companies, was made to penetrate a broad belt of uncut wire, but this was covered by Machine-guns which killed almost every man attempting to pass through the two gaps that were discovered.

The situation was similar with No.2 and 4 Companies, who had attacked along the wrong axis. Their advance was met with fierce opposition, and once all the experienced officer’s had been killed or wounded, all cohesion was lost, although some men did reach and cross the Menin Road at Clapham Junction.

By that time, the situation had become extremely confused, and the whereabouts of all four companies being unknown to Battalion Headquarters, urgent attempts were made to discover their locations. Eventually by mid- afternoon, it was established that the bulk of the companies, although all mixed together, were dug in the vicinity of Stirling Castle and by mid evening, the Battalion Headquarters moved forward to meet them.

During its time in the line the 18^th Battalion lost 7 officers and 76 men killed or died of wounds and 7 officers and 177 men wounded. They were relieved on the 02^nd August. 

Alfred now rests at Hooge Crater Cemetery at Ypres, Belgium.

Hooge Chateau and its stables were the scene of very fierce fighting throughout the First World War. On 31 October 1914, the staff of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were wiped out when the chateau was shelled; from 24 May to 3 June 1915, the chateau was defended against German attacks and in July 1915, the crater was made by a mine sprung by the 3rd Division. On 30 July, the Germans took the chateau, and on 9 August, it and the crater were regained by the 6th Division. The Germans retook Hooge on 6 June 1916 and on 31 July 1917, the 8th Division advanced 1.6 Kms beyond it. It was lost for the last time in April 1918, but regained by the 9th (Scottish) and 29th Divisions on 28 September.

Hooge Crater Cemetery was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October 1917. It contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D of Plot I, but was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields of Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt and other smaller cemeteries.

There are now 5,916 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 3,570 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials record the names of a number of casualties either known or believed to be buried among them, or whose graves in other cemeteries were destroyed by shell fire.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.    

His father, Alfred was sent his army pay of £2: 5s: 9d on the 16th of January 1918 and a war gratuity of £3 on the 22nd of November 1919. His father, address 2a Houlgrave Street, also received the dependents pension until his death in 1936 and then Alfred's mother Laura received it.

His father, Alfred, died aged 66 in 1936 and his mother, Laura, died aged 90 in 1958.

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