Alfred Hodges
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 34127
Parents: Caroline Hodges and stepfather Alfred Cordy
Marital status: Married
Home address: Home Address: Speedwell Road, Kingswood, Bristol. Lived: Knapp's Lane, St. George, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Coal Miner
Date of birth: 1886
Date of death: 02/12/1917
Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord, France and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial
Age: 31
Further information:
Alfred's mother, Caroline, was a single parent and aged 18 when she gave birth to Alfred. In 1891 when Alfred was aged four, Caroline was living in lodgings in St George and working as a cotton weaver. Alfred’s sister Rosina was born in 1894 and his brother Ernest in 1895, the same year that Caroline married Alfred Cordy, a brick maker. Caroline then went on to give birth to another boy and three more girls. Alfred married Emma in November 1909 and had a daughter Ivy and a son Leslie who were aged six and three respectively when Alfred died. Alfred’s brother Ernest was also killed serving his country just three months after Alfred.
Alfred served with the 2nd/6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment.
Alfred's battalion mobilised to France in May 1916, taking part in various actions on the Western Front including The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Alfred was killed during the Cambrai Operations (20 November – 30 December 1917) a large-scale British attack that employed new artillery techniques and massed tanks. Initially it was very successful with large gains of ground being made, but ten days later, a counter-attack regained much of the ground and the cost in allied casualties was high at 44,000. Alfred was originally listed as missing and later presumed killed although his body was never found. The memorial where Alfred is remembered commemorates those who died in the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917.
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/
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-cambrai-operations-1917-battle-of-cambrai/