Albert Ernest Mahagan
Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Rank and number: Private 21354
Parents: Henry and Sarah Ann Mahagan
Marital status: Single
Home address: Marlwood Lower Lodge, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Errand Boy in 1911
Date of birth: 1898
Place of birth: Bristol
Date of death: 09/09/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial; Thornbury United Reformed Church Memorial Tablet
Age: 18
Further information:
Bronze Tablet and Wooden Memorial Board
Albert Ernest Mahagan, known as Jack, was born in Bristol in 1898, the second of the nine children of Henry and Sarah Ann Mahagan. At the time of the 1901 census, Henry, who was born in Thornbury, was employed as a carter for the Bristol Sanitary Authority. The Mahagans moved back to Thornbury in 1903 and by 1914 the family were living in the Lower Lodge on Thornbury Hill, presumably a tied cottage for workers on the Marlwood Estate. Jack’s grandfather, Luke Ball, lived at Upper Morton
Jack served in 1st Battalion, Glosters. According to a newspaper report written after his death, he had fought at the Battle of Loos and ‘came out uninjured.’ This battle took place from 25th September to 13th October 1915, with 1st Glosters losing 130 men on 8th October. However, Jack’s medal card notes his date of entry in France as 27th October. He may have been involved in operations following the main battle. Jack was listed in the Bristol Times and Mirror in December on a Roll of Honour of those from Thornbury who had ‘responded to the call of King and Country'
On 16th July 1916, during the Somme offensive, 1st Glosters took part in a night attack as part of the Battle of Bazentin. A communication trench in the area was from then on known as Gloster Alley. Towards the end of August the Battalion was in the line near High Wood, east of Pozières, and suffered intense shelling for three days. The trenches were largely destroyed, forcing the men to seek shelter in nearby shell holes. By the time the Battalion was relieved on 28th August it had sustained about 185 casualties
On the 8th September 1st Glosters returned to the line in front of High Wood and at 6 p.m. took part in an attack, which resulted in heavy casualties. The survivors were ordered to withdraw, and by about 8 to 10 p.m. they were back in the trenches where they had started. At 3 a.m. on 9th September, they held off a German counter attack. In the action at High Wood the Battalion lost twelve officers, of whom five were killed including the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Pagan. In addition 84 other ranks were killed and 122 wounded
Jack was Killed in Action on that night of the 8th/9th September. The report of his death in the Chronicle said he was just 18 years old. He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme, which bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission recorded Jack’s surname as Mehagan
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Thornbury Roots website. Thornbury and District Museum Research Group