Informations sur naissance

Année de naissance:
1897
Lieu de naissance:
Halifax, Yorkshire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Informations générales

Profession:
Bakers Apprentice

Informations service militaire

Pays:
Angleterre, Royaume-Uni
Force armée:
British Expeditionary Force
Rang:
Private
Numéro de service:
35738
Incorporation nom de lieu:
Halifax, Yorkshire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni
Unités:
 —  King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 9th Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Informations sur décès

Date de décès:
22/10/1917
Lieu de décès:
Jolting Houses, Beselare, Belgique
Cause du décès:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Âge:
20

Cimetière

Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood
Parcelle: XXII
Rangée: A
Tombe: 16

Distinctions et médailles 2

British War Medal
Médaille — 06/05/1920
Victory Medal
Médaille — 06/05/1920

Points d'intérêt 3

#1 Lieu de naissance
#2 Lieu d'enrôlement
#3 Lieu du décès (approximatif)

Mon histoire

Alfred Simpson was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire in the spring of 1897. He was the youngest son of Alfred and Rose Hannah Simpson. According to the 1911 census, Alfred, was working as a Bakers Apprentice when he was 13 years old.

By the autumn of 1917, Alfred Simpson served as a Private in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry 9th Battalion, part of the 64th Brigade, of the 21st Division, which fought in the Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele.
Alfred’s Battalion came up from Northern-France to join the offensive in September 1917. The 9th Yorkshire Light Infantry was first deployed on the 4th of October, when it captured positions to the southeast of Polygon Wood. Two days later it was relieved and moved back to the hinterland for some much deserved rest.

On 21 October 1917 the 9th Yorkshire Light Infantry moved back to the frontlines at the hamlet of Reutel, where it relieved the 13th Durham Light Infantry. The following day the German artillery relentlessly shelled the Battalion’s trenches between 4 and 7 a.m. The shelling was particularly severe in reply of a British barrage around 5.30 a.m. “C” Company, in support, took the brunt of the shelling and suffered several casualties.
Private Alfred Simpson was killed in action on the 22nd of October 1917. He possibly fell, due the German artillery fire. The 20-year old was buried in the field near Jolting Houses, just north of Reutel. His remains were exhumed after the war and reinterred in Buttes New British Cemetery, Plot XXII, Row A, Grave 16.

Fichiers 1

Sources 2

9 Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2162/1).
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303
Autre référence
Bond R., History of The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in the Great War 1914-1918, (Londen, Humphries & Co., 1929), p. 894-897.
Sources utilisées

Complément d’informations 3