250266 Cpl Alfred James Elliott British Army Royal Fusiliers from:Edmonton, London Alfred Elliott was my grandfather. He volunteered with every male member of his Box Making Factory, which was situated in Edmonton, North London. They were 72 men plus Alfred, they were altogether in the same battalion, and were all together in the same company, of the Royal Fusiliers. Alfred would not leave them to become an officer, he could not be a Sgt, as they were all regulars, so they made him a Cpl.
At the Battle of Ypres they all went over the top, and Alfred was the only survivor with machine gun and shrapnel injuries. This known for sure as the Trench Map of the day, has his name down as the only one who came back.
In the next step trench died an officer, but his brother survived. They were from another Regiment. It was while the son of the officer who was killed, was researching his family history that he found by chance Alfred's name.
|