LEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWI
Private Albert Underwood
8 Bn East Surrey Regiment
Town Memorial P9.R3.C1
Taken, Not Given, Liam Sumption, L&DLHS
PteAlbert Underwood
9th East Surrey [sic]
Regt
Fricourt
July 1 1916
Albert Underwood was actually serving in the 8th Bn. East Surreys, not the 9th, when he died.
The records of the Queens (1) also inform us that he was born in Leatherhead and enlisted at Kingston-on-Thames. The Parish magazine in May 1915 list him as 'New Army' and serving in the 3rd Bn. (2)
He may have been killed in one of the most famous incidents in the early part of the War, when the British infantry kicked footballs across 'no mans' land' towards the German trenches. They were the 8th East Surreys.
The Battalion War Diary tells the story from which the following extracts are taken: –
1 July 1916
"from midnight enemy shelled our trenches. 3 killed and 10 wounded"
"at 7.27 'B" Company started to move out to the wire"
"Captain Neville, Commanding, issues four footballs to his men to kick across the open ground."
"a few casualties at first"
"7.50. Adjutant reports that the East Surreys have got into the German trenches"
But there have been casualties among the officers.
"8.05 Bn. bombing team and trench mortars sent forward"
"from midnight enemy shelled our trenches. 3 killed and 10 wounded"
"at 7.27 'B" Company started to move out to the wire"
"Captain Neville, Commanding, issues four footballs to his men to kick across the open ground."
"a few casualties at first"
"7.50. Adjutant reports that the East Surreys have got into the German trenches"
But there have been casualties among the officers.
"8.05 Bn. bombing team and trench mortars sent forward"
However, the battalions on the left had failed to clear a crater held by the enemy and now casualties on heavy scale commenced. The C.O. had to send to the O.C. 7th Buffs for reinforcements.
At 9 a.m. the Germans started to come up the railway line and along VALLEY trench. However by 9.21 a.m. the East Surreys got back into TRAIN alley, but were driven out in their turn. And so it continued all day.
At 9 p.m. it was still light and the Suffolks managed to bring up 25 buckets, canvas buckets of water (see the need for water in the case of Pte William Bussey, 7th East Surreys, 4 Oct 1915).
The casualties had been heavy, they were:
Officers: Killed 6; Wounded 5 (1 died);
Missing nil
ORs: Killed 140; Wounded 272; Missing 20
ORs: Killed 140; Wounded 272; Missing 20
With a total of 443 casualties all told,
just under half the battalion had been 'struck off the strength'.
These were roughly the circumstances under which Albert Underwood died.
Notes on sources
1. Regimental records of the Queens, Clandon Park, Surrey
2. Parish magazine of St Mary and St Nicholas, Leatherhead: issue of May 1915 (courtesy of Mr L Anstee of the parish)
3. File WO95–2050 War Diary of 8th Bn. East Surreys: Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond
Further research
PrivateUNDERWOOD, A
Service Number 1845
Died 01/07/1916
8th Bn. East Surrey Regiment
Buried at DANTZIG ALLEY BRITISH CEMETERY, MAMETZ
Location: Somme, France
Cemetery/memorial reference: VII. Q. 10.
Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 12 September 1914
MEN WHO HAVE JOINED THE NEW ARMY
LEATHERHEAD AND DISTRICT
LEATHERHEAD
Territorials
A. Underwood
LEATHERHEAD AND DISTRICT
LEATHERHEAD
Territorials
A. Underwood
Albert's Medal Card notes that he entered France on 11 August 1915.
Leatherhead Parish Magazines
July & October 1915
C. In the Territorial Battalions, or New Army.
Underwood, A., 3rd East Surrey
January 1916
A. In the Fleet and at the Front.
Underwood, A., 3rd East Surrey
March 1916
A. In the Fleet and at the Front.
Underwood, A., 3rd East Surrey
August 1916
FOR KING AND COUNTRY.
The following have given their lives for their Country since our last issue :—
...
July 1. Albert Underwood, 8th Queen's W. Surrey Killed in Flanders
His life
In summary:
At present Albert Underwood's name, as a WW1 casualty on 1 July 1916, is linked to Leatherhead in the following ways:
He is named on our War Memorials:
- Leatherhead Town Memorial North Street
- Leatherhead Royal British Legion Roll of Honour
- Leatherhead, St Mary and St Nicholas Church
- Leatherhead Company, Church Lads Brigade Tryptich, All Saints Church
Soldiers
Died in the Great War 1914-1919 states he was born in
Leatherhead and enlisted in Kingston:
one of the Underwood family trees on Ancestry
states that his biological mother was Rosa Underwood who died in
Leatherhead on 17 August 1881.
However an Albert Underwood, as a WW1 casualty on 1 July 1916, is also named on the Billingshurst, Sussex War Memorial and 1901 and 1911 Census records place him there rather than in Leatherhead. Indeed one source states that Underwood Road in Billingshurst was named in memory of Albert in 2018.
Hence work remains to be done on Albert Underwood in Leatherhead. He was clearly named here, but why was he here?
In detail:
According the Surrey in the Great War website:
[Albert was a] son of William and Rosa Underwood who died on the 17th August 1881, 3 months after Albert was born. His Step mother was Fanny Underwood. He enlisted at Kingston-on-Thames joining the East Surrey Regiment as a Private with service number 1845. He served in the 9th Battalion but was serving with the 8th Battalion when he was Killed in Action on the first day of the Somme.
[The editor believes that Rosa as Albert's mother is probably a false connection and that Fanny was his birth mother - see below]