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Pte. Alfred John Bradley
British Army 1st Btn. Royal Linconshire Regiment
from:Battersea
(d.24th Aug 1914)
Alfred Bradley had a tattoo of St George and the dragon on his chest. His hobby was boxing and his sparring partner was Billy Wells (the strong man who hit the gong in Rank film introduction). He was known for being friendly, practical, independent and liking country cottages.
Alfred ran away from home to join the British Army because he didn't get on with his stepfather Mr Hooper. Served in the Army in India 1898 - 1902; 1903 South Africa (burying the dead after the Boer War); 1904- 1910 India. Returned to England as a reserve and got work as a motor tyre repairer. He was married on 25th of Dec 1912 to Ada Hunt and thier son Alf was born in Sept 1913.
The 1st Lincolnshire Regiment was part of the 9th Brigade, 3rd Division. The Division left by sea on the SS Norman on 13 August 1914, for France, part of the original British Expeditionary Force. They disembarked at Le Havre on 14th August 1914. They marched to Mons where they fought their first action on the 23rd but had to break off their engagement on the 24th and join what was a general retreat. On 24 August in Frameries they acted as a rearguard for the withdrawal of 9th Brigade.
The 24 August 1914 is believed to be the day that Alf Bradley died further to engaging the German forces. The partial map of Frameries showing burial places of the English soldiers incl Pte Bradley. He died along with about 40 others the same day. The army records his death as taking place at Marne on 8th Sept 1914 but friend and locals say he was killed on the 24th of August. A friend saw him buried in a garden by local peasants then. Local people made a map in 1915 which showed where the British soldiers were buried. In 1918 he was reburied by the army at Bezu-le-Guery communal cemetery near Chateau Thierry in a shared grave with other soldiers killed at around the same time. The date of death on the memorial stone is 8th Sept 1914, but the date of death on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records signed as checked in 1921 (after earlier versions of the document had been variously amended) record that this was a reburial from another place. The confusion about dates reflects the fast pace of action and loss at the time.
It's known that Alf's regiment fought in Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien's delaying action at Le Cateau and then joined the rest of the British Army as they fell back to the Marne Valley. On the night of the 7th of September 1914 the 1st Lincolns were in billets at the village of La Bretonniere which they left at 6am the following morning. At around 10.30am they had stopped to rest in a field near Bezu when their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, received a message from Brigade informing him that 'a German battery was doing serious damage by shelling our column approaching the Marne.' Captain Drake, along with C and D Companies, worked their way through the woods to the west of Bezu and crept to within 150 yards of the guns before rushing forward and shooting down the German gunners and their escort almost to a man. When they dashed out of the thicket to secure the guns they were spotted by the 65th (Howitzer) Battery Royal Artillery who mistook them for Germans and opened fire on them. They were forced to seek cover and this burst of "friendly fire" cost the Lincolns casualties of one officer killed with three wounded and some thirty other ranks killed or wounded. Robert Drake was one of the officers wounded but he died later the same day. This action tends to explain the choice of cemetery for the deaths in Bezu and those of the members of the regiment who had died in Frameries only days earlier.
