| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Alfred (“Fred”) Spencer was born in Driffield the 19 Nov 1894 and baptised the 30 Dec 1894 at Great Driffield, the son of Fred Spencer and Edith, they married in Driffield in 1892. Edith was from Dorchester, Dorset. Fred was a baker and confectioner, by 1911 the family had moved to Beverley and he was working as a clerk in the office of a wine and spirit merchants. Alfred worked as an errand boy in a grocery business. The family lived in Wilbert Grove and then Highgate.
Alfred servedas a private in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 21st Battalion. This battalion was drawn from volunteers in rural communities across Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland and was created in late 1915. The 21st arrived in France on 4 May 1916 and were there until Mar 1918 when they were disbanded. They took part in actions on the Somme and spent a short time in Italy from Nov 1917 to Mar 1918 helping to prop up the Italian army after their heavy defeat at Caporetto in Oct 1917. Alfred was transferred to the 10th Battalion. He was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
Alfred lived in Hull and was involved in the retail industry. He married in Hilda Midwood in Sculcoates in 1927. They did not have any children. They moved to Spalding, Lincolnshire and in 1939 were living on The Crescent, Station Street, Alfred was a retail pharmacist. He died in 1978. Hilda died in 1980.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |