3rd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Albert Edward Halford was born at Longford, near Gloucester in 1882. He was the son of Henry George Halford (1854 -?) and his wife Matilda Alder (née Stone: 1849-1934). The couple had seven children, four boys and three girls.
On 27 September 1902 Albert married Gertrude Mason Watkins at Twigworth (he was aged 20 and she 18) and the couple had seven children, three boys and four girls.
At the time of the 1911 Census the family lived at May Cottage, Twigworth.
Fortunately, Albert’s Army Pension Record has survived and this provides some detailed information on his time in the Army.
He attested for military service, for the duration of the war, on 23 January 1915, giving his age as 32 years and nine months; his address Manor Farm Cottages, Longford, Gloucester and his occupation as a carter (or wagon driver) on a farm. His initial posting, as a Private (number 18954) was to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, where he received his basic training. Following this, on 18 May 1915, he was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Glosters and embarked from Southampton on that day to join his unit, serving with the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, as part of 82nd Brigade, 27 Division, on the 20th.
The 2nd Battalion, Glosters had been involved in heavy fighting in the locality of Sanctuary Wood in the Ypres Salient during the period 8-12 May and had been relieved on the 18th to go into billets in a farm at Busseboom, two miles south of Poperinghe. The Battalion had received quite a mauling, with many casualties and according to the Battalion War Diary received a replacement draft of 135 men, including NCOs, from England on 21 May. Thereafter it marched via Vlamertinghe, Outerdom and Westoutre to Locre and then via Ballieul to billets near Steenwerck. On 30 May it took over trenches in the La Chapelle d’Armentieres sector.
The battalion was located in the Armentieres sector when Albert’s medical problems began on 23 July 1915, when he appeared to have contracted influenza, although this was downgraded to bronchial catarrh. On 2 August he was admitted to No. 11 General Hospital at Boulogne suffering from myalgia and he remained there until 9 September. On the 21st he was again admitted to hospital, this time at Wimereux and two days later returned to England aboard the hospital ship Brighton.
During his time in hospital at Boulogne he had been diagnosed with rheumatic fever, brought about by conditions in the trenches and upon arrival in England was sent to a hospital in Cambridge, where he stayed for six months, transferring to the strength of the Glosters’ Depot.
He returned to France on 17 March 1916 but his rheumatic condition had worsened and on 9 May of that year he was sent back to England and a hospital in Birmingham.
A medical board convened at Milstead Camp, Sittingbourne, Kent on 28 September 1916 noted that Albert now had difficulty walking, due to rheumatic limbs and had to use sticks. The damp and cold conditions of the trenches and general hardships of service life were seen as the principal cause. He was discharged as ‘quite unfit for further service’, back-dated to 11 September 1916 and received a Silver War Badge to indicate his discharge due to illness. He was also granted a reviewable pension.
Alfred Edward Halford died at home on 16 May 1919, aged 37, cause unknown but most probably related to his rheumatic condition. There appears to have been no report of his funeral or notice of death placed in the local newspapers. However, the CWGC register does stated that his widow lived at 47 Kingsholm Road, Gloucester. She was to die in tragic circumstances in April 1945, after being struck down by a lorry at the junction of Kingsholm Road and Denmark Road.
Private Halford is buried in the churchyard of St Matthew’s, Twigworth, where a standard CWGC headstone marks his grave.
Researched by Graham Adams 21 April 2020