239786 Pte. Alfred George Spurling British Army 1st Battalion East Kent Regiment from:Tattingstone, Suffolk (d.15th April 1917) Alfred Spurling enlisted in Ipswich in November 1915 at the age of 37 years and 9 months. He was 5'8" tall, weighed 138 lbs and his chest measurement was 36" with a 2" range of expansion. He was a Private in the 1st Battalion The Buffs East Kent Regiment, an infantry regiment and one of the oldest in the British Army, posted to France on 10th of October 1916.
Alfred was killed in action on 15th of April 1917 and is named on the Loos Memorial which commemorates over 20,000 servicemen who have no known grave.
From his records we know that in 1918 his widow, Rebecca, received her husband's articles of private property consisting of letters, three photos, Testament, steel mirror, wallet with addresses and cutlery. Her pension was 18/9 shillings a week.
Alfred was born in Rushmere in 1878 and by 1891 his family had moved to Tattingstone living near the White Horse. In his early twenties he worked in Spearmans Yard, Ipswich as a cart driver - this was in the St Matthews area of town and was named after a Mr Spearman who had a dye works there. Ten years on and Alfred was back in Tattingstone, married with one son, living on Lemons Hill and working as a gardener. He had married Rebecca Clarke in 1903, she was a dressmaker, from the Wherstead Road area in Ipswich. By the time of her death in 1938 she had moved back to Ipswich to Bramford Lane. Their only son, Alfred Augustus, became a police constable and at the time of his death was living in Middlesex.
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