Private 1671 6th Bn North Staffs then 21872 Machine Gun Corps
Albert was the eldest son of Alfred and Carolina and lived at 21 Albion Street, Rugeley with his family. They were a fairly large family (nine) and they needed more room but couldn’t quite afford it so they rented next door as well (No 23) and took in two lodgers to make ends meet. Albert had started work at the pottery in about 1909, aged 13, and was described on the 1911 census as a potter although he was not actually making the ware.
When war broke out, Albert, aged 18, quickly joined the 6th Battalion of the North Staffs where he was appointed a machine gunner. At the beginning of the war each regiment only had two machine guns. The regiment disembarked in France on 5th May 1915. Before long the Army recognised the need for more machine guns in a concentrated mass and Albert was transferred to the newly formed Machine Gun Corps.
Army tactics changed considerably throughout the war and by 1918 the idea of strategic depth had been introduced which meant that the Machine Gun Corps often found itself well in advance of the front. They suffered an appalling casualty rate with over a third being wounded or killed – it was so bad that they were named ‘the Suicide Club’.
Sadly Albert became one of the casualties in May 1918. The records state that his death was accepted on 27th May 1918 which presumably means that he was first declared missing. He is commemorated on the Soissons Memorial, France.