208003 Pte. Henry John Allcroft British Army 16th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment from:Chelsea My father, Henry John Allcroft, served with the Royal Sussex Regiment during World War 1. He was born in Chelsea, Middlesex on the 31st of May 1898 he enlisted on 11th May 1916 having falsified his age. He was exactly 17 years 11 months when he joined up. In 1917 he travelled to Egypt where the 16th Battalion was forming and there he joined at Mersa Matru. He took part in the Battle for Gaza and other battles on the advance on Jerusalem. In 1918 the Battalion embarked for transfer to the Western Front in France arriving at Marseilles, travelling by train the length of France to arrive on the Flanders battlefields. Harry Allcroft was involved in the push forward that took place during late August and early September of 1918 across a front stretching to the north of Peronne. On 3rd September 1918 he was wounded during actions at or around Brunn Trench near the Canal du Nord by the village of Haut Allaines. He was wounded by shell blast which caused him to be quite deaf in his left ear and only partially sighted in his left eye. He also carried scarring to his left shoulder.
Harry went on, after the War, to qualify as an architect and became Clerk of Works for Trowbridge in Wiltshire. He married and had three children, two girls and one boy. Harry died in 1952. The boy he had remains very proud of him.
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