Name & Rank:
Private Albert Charles Town T/205308 (HU 119214) Private Albert Charles Town T/205308. Unit: 8th Battalion, The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Death: 01 August 1917 Missing in action Western Front Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205389821
Private Albert Charles Town
Regimental Number:
T/205308
Birth date & Location:
1897, Maidstone, Kent
Parents:
Charles and Emily Jane Town
Family Profile:
Albert Charles Town was born in Maidstone, Kent to Charles and Emily Jane Town in 1897. He was the eldest of two sons, his brother, Edward Arthur, was born in 1899. Before the war, Albert and Edward attended school and his parents operated the George Hotel at 41 High Street in Sittingbourne, Kent. The pub is still in operation.
Service Profile:
Town was part of the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele. Town was a transport soldier [Royal Army Service Corps] and he brought supplies and ammunition to the front in preparation for the attack. On July 30, 1917, the 8th Battalion moved into trenches about 4 min southeast of Ypres. They took Jehovah and Jordan trenches suffering heavy casualties and were heavily bombarded until the night of August 1 when they were relieved by the 9th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment. The Battalion’s role in Third Battle of Ypres was described in “#OTD1917 the Queen’s Attacks.” Town was one of 105 men from the 8th Battalion presumed missing on August 1.
Death date & Location:
Albert Charles Town was presumed dead as of August 1, 1917. His remains were never identified. His name was chiseled into the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. It is on the last of four panels that list the names of men from the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) whose graves are unknown.
At the end of each July from 1919-1929, Town’s parents placed a memorial poem or message in their local newspaper, The East Kent Gazette.
Menin Gate, panel 14, Ypres, Belgium.
Photographed in 2016 by Jenna Fleming.
