Rifleman Albert Harold Roake Warwick

Born in Camberwell, Surrey in January 1894, Albert was the son of Ernest and Ada Warwick. His mother died in 1909 and his father later married Helen Quin.

By 1911 the family was living at 1, Chestnut Road, Raynes Park. Ernest was now listed as a gun maker’s assistant and seventeen year old Albert was a clerk.
Following the outbreak of war, Albert joined the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade. His unit was sent to France on 23 August 1914. By 1915 they were based in Flanders.
In April 1915, Albert and his unit were involved in fighting near Fortuin, north-east of Ypres.

The Regimental War Diary paints a rather confused picture of what followed. The men were moving along the Fortuin road, trying to find the 2nd Canadian brigade which they were meant to be replacing. At some stage, troops from a brigade of Durham Light infantry began retreating through their ranks. The Riflemen then tried, in vain, to contact British forces stationed in trenches on their left flank. Throughout this time the battalion was under fire from German forces shelling from the other side of Gravenstafel Bridge. 103 Rifle Brigade troops were killed on 26 April, one of whom must have been Albert. He was just one of 11,575 Rifle Brigade troops killed during the course of the First World War.

Albert is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres.