Alden/Aldin Bertie Collett

Memorial: Hambrook - Whiteshill Common

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: Lance Sergeant 8103

Parents: Charles and Sarah Collett

Marital status: Single

Home address: Stoke Gifford, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Soldier

Date of birth: 01/07/1887

Place of birth: Stoke Gifford, Bristol

Date of death: 11/04/1917

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site. Commemorated at Basra Memorial Iraq and Whiteshill Common Hambrook Memorial.

Age: 29

Further information:

Alden was born at Stoke Gifford, the son of a labourer and the second youngest child of seven children with one sister and five brothers. One of his brothers was admitted to Fishponds asylum.

In 1905, Alden enlisted in the 3rd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment (No 8219) when he was 18 years old, having previously worked as a market gardener’s assistant. At that time, his family was still living at Stoke Gifford and Alden was described as 5’ 3¼” tall with brown hair grey eyes and a fresh complexion. In 1911, he was stationed at Malta and served in both peacetime and wartime. In June 1915, Alden’s Battalion mobilised to Gallipoli and fought in the Battles of Suvla. It was evacuated from Suvla and fought at Helles from where his battalion were evacuated to Egypt. They then fought in the Battle of Kut Al Imara and the capture of Baghdad. Following the capture of Baghdad, the Battalion fought in the battle of Nahr Kalis (9–15 April 1917) during which Alden was killed in action. His body was never found, but the Basra Memorial where he is remembered commemorates more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known. Alden left his effects to a Miss Agnes Paxton, who could have been his fiancée.

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/