Pte 52098 Alfred Jackson

• Age: 20
• From: Manchester
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 7th June 1917
• Commemorated at: Railway Dugout B.g. Zillebeke
  Panel Ref: VII.M.4

Alfred was born in Manchester in late 1896, the eldest surviving son of John Henry Jackson and Mary Elizabeth (née Oakden). His parents, both born in Manchester, married in 1887 and had 14 children. 

Those found on censuses are older brother William 1888 (died young), and younger siblings Ada 1898, Mabel 1900, Dorothy 1902, Walley 1905, Edgar 1907, Harold 1909, Elsie 1910, and Norman 1912. Four others died young. 

At the time of the 1901 Census the family are living at 68 Bedford Street, Moss Side, Manchester. His father is aged 37, and is employed as a photographer, his mother, Mary, is aged 34 and they have three children; Alfred is 4, Ada 3, and Mabel 10 months old. Also living with them are his uncle Fred Jackson, 27, his aunt Sarah Jackson, 20, and his aunt Sarah Oakden, 27, who is described as “deaf and dumb”.   

His sister Ada died the following year, age 4. 

Alfred attended Princess Road School, Moss Side, Manchester. 

The 1911 Census finds the family still at 68 Bedford Street, with seven children. His father, is aged 47, and is a master window cleaner, his mother is aged 44. They advised that they had been married for 24 years, and have had 13 children, of which 7 have survived.  Alfred is aged 14, and an errand boy, Mabel is aged 10, Dorothy, is aged 8, and Walley, is aged 6, all are at school. Edgar is aged 4, Harold is aged 1, and Elsie is aged 4 months. Also in the household is his maternal aunt, Sarah Oakden, 39.  Six of their 13 children have died. Another son, Norman, was born the following year.    

Before enlisting Alfred was employed by C.P.A., Manchester. [possibly the Manchester Warehousemen Clerks’ Provident Association]. 

Alfred enlisted in Manchester and was serving with the 19th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 52098 when he was killed in action on 07th June 1917, aged 20. Details of the action that led to Alfred's death are contained in the 19th Battalion War Diary:

From the battalion War Diary for 7th June 1917 –  The Battle of Messines.  

"Attack on the Messines Ridge by the Second Army, this battalion and the 2nd Bedfordshire Regt holding the line on the left flank of the attack.  Immediately after zero (3.10 a.m.) four patrols under 2nd Lieuts  J. Ross, G.W. Sharples, A.S. Calvert, C.W. Cackett.  The first patrol under 2nd Lieut Ross got to within 40 yards of the German front line.  2nd Lt Ross then left his patrol and went forward to reconnoitre. In climbing over the parapet he found that the front line was strongly held.  With great difficulty he got his patrol back to our front line having suffered only 1 casualty (wounded). The report was immediately sent in with the result that artillery commenced to bombard the enemy front line.  The other three patrols were unable to get far owing to the heavy enemy machine gun and rifle fire.  One patrol leader, 2nd Lt. Sharples, was killed and his patrol suffered casualties, 2 OR killed and 4 OR wounded.  In 2nd Lt. Calvert’s patrol 1 OR was killed.  During the day repeated reports were received of the progress of the attack on the right and late in the afternoon reports were received that most of the objectives had been reached.”

The three Other Ranks killed during this action were Pte 52098 Alfred Jackson, Pte 204299 George Wiseman, and Pte 23106 Samuel McIlroy. They lie together in Railway Dugout Burial Ground at Zillebeke. 

Railway Dugouts Cemetery is 2 Kms west of Zillebeke village, where the railway runs on an embankment overlooking a small farmstead, which was known to the troops as Transport Farm. The site of the cemetery was screened by slightly rising ground to the east, and burials began there in April 1915. They continued until the Armistice, especially in 1916 and 1917, when Advanced Dressing Stations were placed in the dugouts and the farm. They were made in small groups, without any definite arrangement and in the summer of 1917 a considerable number were obliterated by shell fire before they could be marked. The names "Railway Dugouts" and "Transport Farm" were both used for the cemetery.

At the time of the Armistice, more than 1,700 graves in the cemetery were known and marked. Other graves were then brought in from the battlefields and small cemeteries in the vicinity, and a number of the known graves destroyed by artillery fire were specially commemorated. The latter were mainly in the present Plots IV and VII.

The cemetery now contains 2,459 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 430 of the burials are unidentified and 261 casualties are represented by special memorials. Other special memorials record the names of 72 casualties buried in Valley Cottages and Transport Farm Annexe Cemeteries whose graves were destroyed in later fighting.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

His family placed a notices in the Manchester Evening News on 25th June 1917:

 “Private Alfred Jackson, 52098, Manchester Regt, attached to King’s Liverpool Regt., killed in action June 7th, 1917, aged 20 years.

  He risked his life for his country’s sake,

    Where on the battlefield he fell;

  But in that moment he passed through the gate

    Of Paradise with Christ to dwell.

From his sorrowing Father, Mother, Sisters, and Brothers. - 68 Bedford Street, Moss Side, Manchester.” 

His family placed notices in the Manchester Evening News on 25th June 1917: 

“Pte, ALFRED JACKSON, King's Liverpool Regiment, killed, lived at 68, Bedford-street, Moss Side, was employed by the O.P.A., Manchester, and was an old Princess Road Schoolboy.” 

No available records show Alfred with the Manchester Regiment, but his adjacent Regimental numbers, Pte 52097 Thomas Chesters, and Pte 52099 Decimus Neal, enlisted in Manchester and originally served in in the Manchester Regiment. 

His parents sent a message for the condolences that they received in the Manchester Evening News on Thursday 28th June 1917; 

Mr. and Mrs. JACKSON and Family desire to Thank relatives and friends for the many letters of condolence and messages of sympathy, also the members of the Rose of Denmark Lodge, in their sad bereavement. 68, Bedford-street, Moss Side. 

He earned his two medals.    

His mother received Alfred’s Army effects, Army Pay of £7 9s 11d, War Gratuity of £13-10, and a pension of 10/- a week from December 1917.  The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he enlisted in about May 1916, when he would have been 19 years old. 

His father, died aged 52, in 1918 and was buried on the 30th May 1918 at Manchester Southern Cemetery. 

On the 1921 Census at Bedford Street, his widowed mother, Mary, is aged 54, Dorothy is 18, and a shorthand typist, Walley is 16, and an apprentice engineer, Edgar is 14, and an apprentice fitter, and Harold is 12. Aunt Sarah, aged 49, is still present.   

His mother, Mary died aged 81, in 1948 and was buried on the 22nd March 1948 also at Manchester Southern Cemetery, alongside her husband. 

Sadly, we have not been able to identify Alfred on any memorial.

We currently have no further information on Alfred Jackson. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.