Lance Corporal 11345 Albert Henry Jones

Died of Wounds on Tuesday, 17th November 1914, age 25.
Buried in Grave I. H. 2. at Hamburg Cemetery, Hamburg, Germany.

'C' Company of 2nd Bn., Worcestershire Regiment. 5th Brigade of 2nd Division.

Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Birmingham, Resident: Tipton.

First landed France & Flanders, 14th August 1914.
Medal entitlement: 1914 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.

Not commemorated on any Tipton memorial.
Commemorated here because identified as Tipton on 'Soldiers Died in the Great War'.

Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/902412/

Genealogical Data

Birth of Albert Henry Jones registered December quarter 1888 in Dudley.

1901 Census
Toll End Road, Tipton, Staffs.
Boarding with Ralph and Elizabeth Maydew were:
William Jones (39, Labourer at Boiler Makers), his wife Eliza J. (31) and their 3 children: Albert H. (12), Alice E. (9) and Arthur (5). All born Tipton.

1911 Census
2nd Battalion, the Worcestershire Regiment, Jhansi; India.
Albert Jones, Private, age 22, Single, born Tipton, Staffs.

Personal Data

After Albert’s death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £15/7/4d (15 pounds, 7 shillings and 4 pence); this was paid to his sister and sole legatee, Alice E., in July 1915. His War Gratuity was £5/0/0d (5 pounds exactly), this was also paid to his Alice in June 1919. Albert was already a serving soldier with the Worcestershire Regiment when war was declared in August 1914.

No pension appears to have been granted as Albert was unmarried, and had no one classified as 'Dependant'.

Action resulting in his death

Albert Jones died in Germany as a prisoner-of-war. The date he was taken prisoner is not known, but the Regimental Museum believe that he fought at the Battle of Gheluvelt on 31st October 1914. Despite this, he is not on the 1914 Star Medal Roll at the National Archives, this must be a mistake.

One of the German Prisoner of War records held by the Red Cross may suggest that he was being treated in hospital in Kortryk (Courtrai) on 10th November, but the record is a little confusing. This mentions a wounds of the left arm.

A Red Cross record dated 14th November 1914 reports that Albert was in a Reserve Hospital at Höxter (near Holzminden, an infamous Prisoner of War Camp) and suggests that he had a gunshot wound to his thigh. The records are a little confusing, but it seems he was transferred to Schwerin in Mecklenburg, some 200 miles north towards Hamburg.

Albert died from pneumonia in a Military Hospital at Schwerin on 17th November and was buried in Schwerin. After the war, all burials in Germany were concentrated into a few locations. This included Hamburg where Albert is now buried.

Newspaper Cuttings

Worcester Herald 9th January 1915
A Casualty List in the Worcester Herald reported L/C A. H. Jones of Tipton being wounded; by this time he had been dead for almost two months.