"Sufferings of a Cholsey family"

"Sufferings of a Cholsey family"

known 6th August 1914

It is a given that death accompanies war; a soldier hopes that if he is to die it is in battle. For many in the Great War this was not the case. As in 1914, disease and accidents claimed their share, and many died without reaching the front… Inevitably some families suffered more than others. The sufferings of a family from Cholsey, fifteen miles north of Reading, is typical of the experiences of many others. Possibly the first casualty was Private 1985 Alfred Abdey, of 4 Battalion who died, aged twenty, of a malignant disease of the lung on the day he should have entrained for Reading with his fellow Territorials. His brother-in-law, whose wife Lucy was pregnant, landed in France on 12 September and was killed by a shell on 5 [sic] January. Two months later, his son was born and named Alfred John Festubert Alder after her brother and husband and the place of his death. Later in the year, she was to lose her brother Herbert during the Battle of Loos. (David Bilton, "Reading in the Great War, 1914-1916" (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2016) n.p.

Created by: , Hugh19032

  • Born 1893

    Died 1914

    British Army 1985 Private Royal Berkshire Regiment 1st/4th Battalion