Alexander Beaver

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 859

Parents: Albert and Amy Kezia Beaver, step-father William Gingell

Home address: 11 Burchell's Green Road, Two Mile Hill Road, Kingswood, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Press Worker

Date of birth: 1892

Place of birth: Staple Hill, Bristol

Date of death: 03/07/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried Kingswood Holy Trinity Churchyard and commemorated on Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 22

Further information:

Alec was born in Staple Hill. He was the youngest son of a bootmaker with an older brother Albert. Alec’s natural father died when Alec was a baby. Alec’s mother later married his step-father William Gingell, a farm labourer and had three more daughters and another son who were Alec’s half-siblings. Alec died five weeks after his older brother Albert who was also killed on active service.

Alec would have mobilised with his regiment (the 4th Battalion, Glosters) to France in March 1915. He was wounded a month later on 26th April 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres (22 Apr 1915 – 25 May 1915) which was fought for control of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The battle began with the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front. Alec was one of over 59,000 British casualties from this engagement for which he was awarded a wound stripe. It is possible that he was a victim of gas poisoning as following his injury he was transferred back to England and died two months later in 4th Northern General Hospital Lincoln

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/