CQMS 30781 Alfred Beecroft

Not long after the census, his mother married William Fuber Tucker, a mariner. 

His brother George died in 1894, at the age of 25.

 

1901 finds his mother, 58, and stepfather at 7 Alexander Street, on the edge of Stanley Park, with five of the children at home. Alfred is 21, working as a railway clerk.   Living next door at no.5 are his married brother William, his wife, and children Louisa, Amy, George, William, and Joseph.

 

His brother Frank died in Liverpool in 1909, aged 31.  

His youngest brother Albert is found on a passenger list from Liverpool to Sierra Leone in 1910.

 

In 1911 they are living in seven rooms at 7 Alexander Street. His stepfather is a mariner with a steamship company, his mother is 68, Frederick is 37, a traveller, out of work, Alfred is 31, employed as an oil merchant’s clerk.

 

He enlisted in Liverpool on 07th November 1914 as Private 22323, joining the 20th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment, giving his age as 34 years and his occupation as clerk. He is described as being 5’ 7 and a half inches tall, weighing 147 lbs, with a fresh complexion, brown hair and brown eyes.  He gives as his next of kin his mother Martha at 7 Alexander Street.  His service record survives and shows -

 

01/10/1915 Alfred was transferred to 1st (Garrison) Bn Manchester Regiment with the regimental number 30781.  The 1st Garrison Bn was formed at Knowsley Park, Liverpool in September 1915.   Garrison battalions were composed of officers and men permanently unfit for front line duty but considered fit for garrison duty overseas in order to free up fitter men for the front.

 

29/10/1915 promoted to Corporal 

17/11/1915 appointed unpaid Lance Sergeant

24/01/1916 promoted Company Quarter Master Sergeant 

Alfred remained on home service until 24/02/1916, when he shipped to India.  They left Prescot at 9:15 p.m. on 24/02/1916, arriving at Devonport at 10 a.m. the next day. They sailed at 4:30 that afternoon on board the Kinfauns Castle with an escort of two destroyers. On 05th March they passed Alexandria and then sailed through the Suez Canal. The ship arrived at Bombay, India on 14/03/1916.  The garrison at Allahabad was 860 miles from Bombay.   

Alfred had been just a few weeks in India when he died of heat apoplexy on 28th May 1916, aged 36, at Allahabad.Heat apoplexy (or heat exhaustion) was not uncommon in the British Army in hot climates.  Caused by high temperatures and humidity, the body temperature rises, and the pulse becomes rapid, leading to seizures.  With physical activity, unsuitable clothing, and carrying heavy equipment, the effects manifest much more rapidly.   (The highest incidence during the war was in Mesopotamia with 7,000 British and Indian troops suffering from heat exhaustion; 10% of the cases were fatal.) 

Alfred was buried in Allahabad New Cantonment Cemetery, one of 38 WW1 casualties. FindaGrave states that his name is also on the Madras 1914-1918 Memorial, Face 21. According to the CWGC, the Madras 1914-1918 Memorial in Madras War Cemetery was built to commemorate more than 1000 servicemen and women who died in India during the First World War, who were buried in civil and cantonment cemeteries in India (including Allahabad, now known as Prayagraj) ) whose graves were considered to be unmaintainable after India gained its independence in 1947.  For several years now, the Commission has been working to reinstate the original graves of a large number of these individuals and to date, the official commemoration of over 900 individuals have been reverted back to their original burial location. However, their names will remain on the MADRAS 1914-1918 MEMORIAL for the foreseeable future. 

However, CWGC does not include his name among those commemorated in Madras (now Chennai). 

His mother placed a notice in the Liverpool Echo on 29th May 1917:

 “In loving memory of my dear son, C.Q.M.S. Alfred Beecroft, who died May 28, 1916 at Allahabad, India, while serving his country.  

  His smiling face and happy ways

    Are pleasant to recall;

  He had a kindly word for each,

    And died beloved by all.

• Sadly missed.” 

A War Gratuity of £11-10s went to his mother; his Army effects were shared by his mother, brothers William (and Frederick, who died a few months after Alfred), sister Louisa Backhouse, sister in law Emily Mary Beecroft, and brother Albert in Sierra Leone.  

His nephew Joseph, the son of his eldest brother William, served in the 10th Bn K.L.R. (Liverpool Scottish), and was killed in action on 20th September 1916, aged 19.  He rests in Guards’ Cemetery, Lesboeufs, Somme.

Another of his nephews, William’s eldest son George, served in the 19th Pals Bn K.L.R., was wounded in action, and was discharged in January 1918 with a Silver War Badge. 

His stepfather died in 1924, and his mother on 16th May 1927, aged 85, having outlived four of her sons.

 

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