In the quaint and quiet churchyard of St Andrew’s Church, located in the small, hushed town of Sherborne St John, Hampshire, lies a 110-year-old gravestone bearing the name Albert Englefield.
To many who pass by, it is just another of the countless reminders of the young men who perished in the relentless suffering of the Great War. But behind the carved name lies the story of a Hampshire-born boy whose life was cut short before he ever saw the battlefield.
Born in 1894, Albert Englefield grew up in a world on the brink of immense change. His father, Gilbert Englefield, was a traction engine driver employed by his wife’s (Mary, Albert’s mother) family business. Together, the pair had ten children, including Albert.
The family lived in Brook Cottages in Sherborne St John, which, to my knowledge, have since been demolished. In 1903, however, a rarity occurred: Mary, along with the children, moved to Monk Sherborne after she and Gilbert separated.
By this point, seven of the ten children were still living at home, and Mary worked as a charwoman, while Albert, at just sixteen, was employed as a farm carter. In time, he found work at Hill House, serving General William Knox. Then, in 1912, with apparent war clouds looming, Albert and several other young men from Sherborne St John, such as Arthur Duckett and Seymour Creswell (whose names also appear on the Monk Sherborne war memorial), enlisted. They joined the newly formed Cyclist Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, where they were trained to use bicycles for various military duties.
At the outbreak of war in 1914, the battalion was mustered in Southampton, and the cyclist soldiers were sent to defend the north-east coast of England. After a successful defence, they later moved to the south coast.
It was during this time, while Albert was on duty, that he became ill. He was sent home by his regiment’s doctor to convalesce, but his condition worsened, and he was soon admitted to Basingstoke’s Isolation Hospital. The rumoured diagnosis was ‘spotted fever’ (a tick-borne disease). Though apparently cured, Albert’s health declined again, and four months after his initial illness (and only a month after his supposed recovery), he died on 18th November 1915. After checking death and war records, I have concluded that Albert died of meningitis, as his symptoms and the rapid return of his sickness match those described in medical reports of the time.
Private Albert Englefield, who died at the young age of twenty-one, was given a military funeral and buried in St Andrew’s Churchyard, Sherborne St John. Four of his comrades, who had enlisted alongside him, were permitted to return home for the service. A squad of twenty soldiers from the Hampshire Regiment travelled from Southampton, four acting as bearers and twelve forming the firing party. Family, friends, and fellow villagers gathered to mourn him, including his mother and six of his siblings.
Though Albert never saw the horrors of the front line, his story is no less poignant than those who did. His life represents the countless young men who did not die in the horror of war but still contributed so much to the freedom of their country. Over a century later, his grave still stands as a humble testament to a boy from Hampshire whose name, like so many others, deserves to be remembered.
Article by Ava Oakey
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