174745 2nd Lt Alfred Boxall MC RE

1886-1917

Alfred Boxall was born on the 15th of July 1886 at 21 Melrose Gardens, Hammersmith, London. His father George was born in 1845 in Westminster and his occupation is listed as a cashier on Alfred’s birth certificate. His mother Charlotte (née Lingard) was born in 1858 in Pimlico, London .

In the 1891 census Alfred is not living with his family who are still at 21 Melrose Gardens. His father George’s occupation is a Railway Clerk/Cashier for Great Western Railways (GWR). There are three children on the census: Bertha aged 10, George Frederick aged 6. For some reason Charlotte is not at home on the night the census was taken, it could be that she was ill or visiting family .

In 1891 Alfred was living in the Kensington & Chelsea District Branch School at Marlesford Lodge, 253 Kings Street in Hammersmith . The 1834 Poor Law Act led to improvements in the arrangements made for the education of pauper children. Poor Law Unions, and parishes regulated by local acts, were persuaded to establish schools and to appoint schoolmasters. The policy of separating the children from their parents (who were generally considered to be a bad influence on their children) and sending them, if possible, to the country was continued The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1844 made possible a further development in this field which was of significance for the metropolitan area. Unions and parishes were empowered to unite and to form a School District which then set up a large separate school for the education of all the indoor pauper children of the constituents of the district. These were usually industrial schools where both boys and girls were taught the basics of a useful trade which, it was hoped, would provide them with better prospects in future.

Kensington and Chelsea School District was founded in 1876, comprising the Poor Law Unions of Kensington and Chelsea. The School District decided not to construct a large district school, instead establishing a cottage homes development at Banstead in Surrey. This took the form of small houses reminiscent of a family home, with separate school buildings, workshops and recreation facilities. A branch school, Marlesford Lodge, was constructed in Hammersmith. Marlesford Lodge "intermediate" school opened in 1883 at a site on King's Street in Hammersmith, opposite the southern end of Ravenscourt Park. It accommodated around 132 children. This acted as a 'filter school', preventing unsuitable children from being transferred to the Banstead Homes, such those with parents in custody, those with infectious ailments and those under the age of 4 and also to minimise the time children spent in the main workhouse — any child admitted to the workhouse before 2pm was washed and despatched to Marlesford the same afternoon . It dealt with: • "Ins-and-Outs" • Children of parents in custody • Those suffering from slight non-infectious ailments ( Alfred had Mumps and hearing loss) • Those awaiting transfer to Banstead, including those falling below its minimum admission age of four

The site later became a home for 'mentally defective' children. In more recent times, the property became known as Palingswick House, accommodating a library and museum, and also housing a number of charities. In 2012, the site was sold to the West London Free School. Alfred may have been ill when he was a pupil in the school. When he tried to join the army in 1914 he was rejected due to hearing loss. Mumps or measles as a child could have caused this and if he had an infectious disease this would explain why he was in the district school. In 1901 the Boxall family are back together and living at 73 Brook Green in Hammersmith. George Boxall is still in his occupation as a cashier for GWR and both his brothers William and George Frederick are bank clerks. His sister Bertha is a twenty year old art student. So in ten years the Boxall family have gone from sending their youngest son to a workhouse school to being able to send their daughter to art school. Alfred attended the Godolphin School in Hammersmith (which became an all girls school in 1905 and renamed the Godolphin & Latymer School) before transferring to the Merchant Taylors School (which he attended 1900-03) . The School has enjoyed a distinguished history since its foundation in 1561 by the Merchant Taylors’ Company. One of the nine original Public Schools as defined by the 1868 Act He obtained his 3rd Class BSc degree in Engineering from the University of London in 1907 having studied at South Western Polytechnic Engineering College in Chelsea. Founded in 1895, one of the principal aims of South-Western Polytechnic Institute was the provision of education for the poorer inhabitants of London. The Institute offered well-equipped laboratories for the study of subjects such as mechanical and electrical engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry and metallurgy, in the hope of attracting male students keen to learn a trade and enter industry. In 1922, South-Western Polytechnic Institute evolved into Chelsea Polytechnic, which became Chelsea College of Science and Technology, before becoming a designated school of the University of London in 1971. Existing Chelsea students and courses were transferred to King’s College in 1985. On graduation in 1907 he joined the Great Western Railway Company (GWR).

In 1911, according to the census, Alfred is a Civil Engineer working for GWR and is still living at 73 Brook Green with his parents and his brother George who is an Electrical Engineer, also with GWR. George senior has now retired as Chief Cashier of GWR . Alfred’s brother and sister (William and Bertha) are living at 98 Fillebrook Road, Leytonstone, Essex with William being a dental surgeon with two servants and Bertha with no employment noted . So another ten years have passed and all of George’s children are professionals. On Saturday 11th of March 1911 Alfred played in a football match for Shrewsbury D.E.O. against Wolverhampton D.E.O of the GWR. “The match was finely contested and resulted in a draw 1-1. At the Close of the match tea was provided and Mr Woodward (divisional engineer, Shrewsbury) presided over the subsequent smoking concert, to which the following contributed; Messrs. Boxall,.....” The following year Shrewsbury won 2-0 and Alfred is mentioned as a singer in the smoking concert which followed the game. On the 24th of April Alfred passed a signalling exam in Birmingham with 419 marks. Sometime before 1917 George senior, Charlotte, and Alfred have moved into 98 Fillebrook Road as this is address on Alfred’s attestation papers . Alfred was commissioned as a Temporary Second Lieutenant in the 262nd Railway Company, Royal Engineers on 3rd of February 1917, although it is was not Gazetted but marked as “On Probation”. .

The contribution to the war effort, especially on the Western Front, of the designated Railway Construction Companies of the Royal Engineers is largely overlooked and/or not researched in most accounts of the conflict. Given the fact that the earliest troop movements gave rise to the phrase "war by timetable" and that the railway was the primary means of movement of men, munitions and supplies, the important if unglamorous role of this military function cannot be underestimated.

Very large numbers of the employees of British railway companies were then volunteering for military service and the men for RE Railway units were selected from them. By the end of 1917, out of 180,000 enlistments from English railway companies, about 40,000 were serving in RE Railway units. The HQ of the regular railway troops before the war was at Longmoor in Hampshire, nearly 1,700 officers and 66,000 other ranks were sent overseas from this centre. Approximately half the officers for the new units were provided by the British railway companies on the recommendation of the Railway Executive Committee and the other half were mainly men from overseas who had been employed on colonial and foreign railways. Once in France, the sappers would be assigned to a Construction Train, of which there were eight in operation in mid-1915. Each Construction Train would have a complement of up to two complete Railway Companies, with a Captain as officer commanding the train. This enabled the sappers to carry both themselves and all their necessary tools and equipment to and from wherever the next work was required. The Companies would pitch tents for accommodation, as required. Large-scale work would include the construction of the major stores and ammunition dump at Audruicq, ten miles from Calais. Here, and at numerous other locations such as the nearby major ammunition dump at Zeneghem Yard, there was great use of Chinese Labour and R.E. Labour Companies to prepare the ground, ready for the platelaying sappers. As the various campaigns and battles unfolded, RE Railway Companies were engaged all over the British sector, close examination of the period maps bear testimony to miles of what was to be temporary track that criss-crossed the area. Howitzer Spurs, Ambulance Train Sidings, Tank Enablements and bridges were all constructed, in addition to the constant maintenance and line doubling. Work in progress was always a potential target for enemy artillery and also there were the attentions of the German Air Force to contend with.

A primary objective was always to take standard gauge railways as close to the front as possible, to lessen the demands on light railway systems, horsed transport and manpower. For the sappers, work could mean toiling around the clock, especially where lines had been cut by shellfire. Inevitably there were casualties; analysis of the records shows that 173 men from Railway Companies lost their lives. The Railway Companies gradually began to be demobilised and by August 1919 the last Company had laid its last sleeper. The 262nd Railway Company was the third of such companies made up from men of the GWR (Great Western Railway) in February. The formation is report as follows: “During the last few weeks, at the request of the War Office, another complete Great Western Railway Construction Company, Royal Engineers, to be known as the 262nd Company, was raised. The Company consist of 1 draughtsman, 2 clerks, 200 platelayers, 20 carpenters, 7 masons and bricklayers, 10 blacksmiths, 5 strikers, 5 fitters, and 2 cooks. The following have been given commissions in this company:- Mr O.T. Wood, chief assistant to the divisional engineer, Paddington, as Captain. Mr F.G. Price, of the divisional engineer’s office, Paddington, and Mr A. Boxall, of the Divisional engineer’s office, Shrewsbury, as Second Lieutenants. The men are now in camp undergoing training for service overseas.”

The War Diary reports:

“On the 26th of February 1917 the Company left Longmoor at 7AM having marched from billets at Greatham where the greater part of the unit arrived in civilian clothes, the unit went overseas six men understrength. The following were the names of the officers: Capt G S Hasell in command, Capt D T Wood, 2 Lieuts R. Gibb, S J Askham, F G Price, A Boxall. The Company having left Southampton at 9PM 26-2-17 on the SS “Caeserea”, landed at Le Harve at 5PM 27-2-17. Departed Le Harve at 2AM 3-3-17 the unit detrained at Bailleul and was accommodated in billets near Dranoutre where they were employed on constructing the “Clapham Junction to Bruloose Line” On the 8th of March (No.3 Platoon, under Lt Boxall), detachment of one officer and thirty other ranks left for Poperinghe where they were engaged in maintaining lines in the Ypres Salient and constructing a subsidiary Railway Stores Park at Railhoek. A further detachment of 19 men left for Poperinghe on the 17th of March (meaning Alfred had 49 men under his command)” In May 1917 they were in the Brandhoek area, getting ready for the push on Ypres and were living in a special train of 27 wagons instead of tents, often "visited" by Richthofen and his circus.

The War Diary continues:

“During this month (June) A Boxall awarded the MC and Sgt Greening the MM for work in the Ypres Gun Spur.

On the 25th of October No 3 Railway Wood howitzer spur and No 2 spur Ravine Wood ready for use. Also earthworks for No Man’s Land Station on the Roulers Line (from Hell Fire Corner) was begun. During this month (October) ii LT BOXALL Killed” The unit moved around quite a bit, charged with pushing new railway lines down to the new casualty clearing stations and gun being set up in the summer months in preparation for the Passchendaele Offensive. Medical units nicknamed as Dosinghem, Bandaghem and Mendinghem, as well as GodWearsVelvet, are mentioned in the diary. The diary says that when he was hit by enemy shellfire, he was engaged in laying railway lines from Hellfire Corner out into No Man's Land . At one point he is working about 600 yards from Hellfire Corner. 2nd Lt Alfred Boxall RE died of his wounds on the 25th of October 1917 at the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance BEF (1st Australian Division) in Ypres in France . He was 31. At the time of his death his parents, George and Charlotte Boxall, were living at 98 Fillebrook Road. A report in The Railway Magazine, Vol 42 Jan-Mar 1918 said:

This report also appeared in the Great Western Railway Magazine:

He was buried at Asylum British Cemetery, Ypres, which was established in the grounds of a mental hospital (the Hospice du Sacre Coeur) a little West of the railway station, between the Poperinghe road and the railway. It was used by Field Ambulances and fighting units from February 1915, to November 1917, and it contained the graves of 265 soldiers from the United Kingdom. After the war he was removed and buried in the Bedford House Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery outside Ieper (Ypres), West-Vlaanderen, Belgium in Enclosure No. 2, Section IV, Row A, Grave 6. His entry on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission says that his parents were living at 81 Wallwood Rd., Leytonstone, London by the time he was reburied. Enclosure No.2 was begun in December 1915, and used until October 1918. After the Armistice, 437 graves were added, all but four of which came from the Ecole de Bienfaisance and Asylum British Cemeteries, at Ypres.

Bedford House Cemetery is located 2.5 Km south of Ieper town centre on the Rijselseweg (N336), the road connecting Ieper to Armentieres. Zillebeke village and most of the commune were in the hands of Commonwealth forces for the greater part of the First World War, but the number of cemeteries in the neighbourhood bears witness to the fierce fighting in the vicinity from 1914 to 1918. Bedford House, sometimes known as Woodcote House, were the names given by the Army to the Chateau Rosendal, a country house in a small wooded park with moats. Although it never fell into German hands, the house and the trees were gradually destroyed by shell fire. It was used by field ambulances and as the headquarters of brigades and other fighting units, and charcoal pits were dug there from October 1917.In time, the property became largely covered by small cemeteries; five enclosures existed at the date of the Armistice, but the graves from No.1 were then removed to White House Cemetery, St. Jean, and those from No.5 to Aeroplane Cemetery, Ypres.

In all, 5,139 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in the enclosures of Bedford House Cemetery. 3,011 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials name casualties buried in other cemeteries whose graves could not be found on concentration. Second World War burials number 69 (3 of which are unidentified). There are 2 Germans buried here. Alfred was not married at the time of his death and his estate and personal effects (his CO sent a brown suitcase of effects) went to his father George. His estate was valued at £310 in 1918 or about £17,000 today. A lot of the pages in his service record are about the pay, allowances, and gratuity due to Alfred’s estate and the letters of administration. He had a bank account with army agents Cox & Co of 18 Charing Cross, London. who date back to 1758. The term Army Agent comes from the days when commissions were purchased and the agents handled the financial transactions involved. By 1914 they acted as any normal bank, but the majority of officers had their accounts with them since they understood the army way of life. Indeed, many wartime officers had not held a bank account and were encouraged to join Cox & Co. The officer was regarded as a gentleman and his word was seen as his bond. Hence people trusted a cheque from an officer. To issue a dud or 'stumer' cheque was a court-martial offence and during the war a not insignificant number of officers were tried for this. However, the firm did not just issue pay and manage officers’ bank accounts. Its Insurance Department could arrange to insure the officer’s kit; the Income Tax Department could deal with his tax returns; and the Standing Order Department would ensure that his tailor was paid regularly. Cox’s also sent a cashier with a supply of money to every hospital ship as it arrived, to enable wounded officers to cash cheques.

Alfred’s Obituary was published in the Taylorian from Merchant Taylor’s School. It Says: “Second Lieutenant Alfred Boxall, R.E., was the youngest son of George and Charlotte Boxall, late of Hammersmith, and now of Leytonstone, and was 31 years of age. His education began at Goldophin School, Hammersmith, but on the dissolution of that school he transferred to Merchant Taylors’. He subsequently went through an engineering course of training at the South-Western Polytechnic, Manresa Road, Chelsea, and in 1908 obtained the degree of B.Sc. (Engineering) of the University of London. He then entered the service of the Great Western Railway Company in their Engineering Department, and became an assistant engineer in the Shrewsbury division of that company. Upon the outbreak of the war he offered his services, but was rejected on account of defective hearing. He was, however, subsequently appointed to a commission in a Railway Construction Company formed for service on France in February last and killed instantaneous by a high explosive shell while in the discharge of his duty on October 25th last. He was universally liked by all who knew him, and his superior officers speak in the highest praise of his efficiency in the discharge of his duties in very trying conditions and of his popularity with the officers and men of his company.” On the 1st of January 1918 the Military Cross which Alfred was awarded was Gazetted. The 262nd Railway Company’s war diary in June 1917 states that it was an immediate award for his work on the Ypres gun spur (i.e. laying railway lines to forward gun positions) during that month. You will see from the diary there are a remarkable number of awards in the field to both officers and men of the 262 Railway Company, which either means they had a CO who was free with his powers, or this was a little band of men required to make the impossible possible in the teeth of enemy shellfire; reading the war diary, it is hard not to conclude the latter scenario is the truth of the situation. Despite research no citation has yet been found for his Military Cross. It is usually true to say that Military Crosses gazetted on 1st January will have been awarded for continuous courage over a period of time, rather than a single specific act of bravery, This takes nothing away from Alfred's earning of the award; the war diary speaks to the difficulty and danger of what was asked of him, and the magnificent job he made of it. Alfred’s Military Cross was handed to his father, George, by General Sir Francis Lloyd at a ceremony in the General Meeting Room at Paddington Station on Saturday, 23rd of February 1918. “Sir Francis pinned Military Medals to the breasts of seven Great Western men, whose conspicous gallantry and devotion to duty on the battlefield had won them these honours. Another Great Western man was congratulated upon having won the Distinguish Conduct Medal and to Mr George Boxall, the Company’s late chief cashier, was handed the Military Cross awarded to his son, who had been killed in action. The awards were to members of the G.W.R. Engineering Department attached to the 262nd (G.W.R.) Company, Royal Engineers. Sir Francis said that the men to whom the decorations were given belonged to a company that had done great work at the Front, almost in the firing lines at times, and under shell fire; and were part of a great railway company in this country that had had a large share in the war”

Boxall Family – Epilogue George Frederick Boxall was Alfred’s brother he was born on the 31st of July 1882 and in 1907 in the London Gazette as a postman . He lived with his parents until he joined the Royal Engineers. He joined as a private and was promoted to Corporal, Sergeant, and received at commission to finish World War One as a Captain service number 146835 . He served in the Royal North Signal Company & L Signals Company Royal Engineers, part of XI Corps which was in the following locations: Major Headquarters Locations Dates Home Service XI Corps Southampton Aug 1914 France and Flanders XI Corps Loos 25 Sep – 5 Oct 1915 XI Corps Estaires 9-11 Apr 1918 XI Corps Hazebrouck 12-15 Apr 1918 XI Corps Bethune 18 Apr 1918 XI Corps Pursuit to Mons 28 Sep – 11 Nov 1918

He relinquished his commission on the 18th of June 1919   

There is a possible marriage for him in Jul-Sep 1925 to a Miss Grimsdale. He died in Swindon (home of the GWR) in July- Sep 1969 Alfred’s brother William Francis Boxall was born Jul-Sep 1885 and also lived with his parents until at least 1901. William graduated as a Dental Surgeon from Guys Hospital Dental School in 1907 . He was gazetted as a Lieutenant on the 27th of May 1918 in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), attaining the rank of Captain on the 27th of May 1919 . He did have a dental partnership until 1912.

William committed suicide in June 1932; the Chelmsford Chronicle reported it on the 17th of June 1932 as follows:

Charlotte Boxall died aged 72 in Leytonstone on the 4th of September 1929 George Boxall Senior died aged 94 in Leytonstone on the 8th of May 1938. Bertha Boxall died aged 84 in Leytonstone in 1965 William, Charlotte, and George are buried in Grave 97188, Square 179 in the City of London Cemetery in Palmers Green. George purchaed the plot on the 5th of September 1929. Bertha’s ashes were interred into the grave on the 25th of May 1965 . The registered owners of the grave were Bertha and George Frederick Boxall.