Archibald Alfred Haskins
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: Somerset Light Infantry
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 20452
Parents: Alfred J and Fanny Haskins
Home address: 4 Laurel Street, Hanham Road, Kingswood, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Bootmaker
Date of birth: 1896
Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol
Date of death: 01/07/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France, Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial and Kingswood High Street Boys School Memorial
Age: 20
Further information:
Archie (Archibald Alfred) was born in Kingswood. He was the eldest child and son of a bootmaker and at the age of 14 he was working in the boot factory too. Archie had a younger sister and a younger brother.
Archie enlisted in 1914 and was sent to join his battalion in France, where it took part in various actions on the Western Front including Mons and Ypres. Archie was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1st July - 18th November 1916) he was initially listed as missing then presumed killed as his body was never found. The initial attack of the Battle was launched by 120,000 allied soldiers and of these 20,000, including Archie, were killed - most of them in the first hour. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, where Archie is remembered, 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 who have no known grave.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/