ALVIN HENRY NEWBURY 1889–1916
Photograph courtesy of the family
Brother of Sydney who was killed 30th June 1917
Born 1889 in Bedford
Killed in action 30th April 1916, France, age 26
Commemorated on Arras Memorial Bay 9 and 10, Radcliffe on Trent War Memorial and Mundella School Memorial plaque (now in St Mary’s Church, Nottingham)
1891 Census
Age one living in Doncaster with father William, a railway goods guard, mother, Elizabeth Eldridge and sister Gracie Daisy, four months.
1901 Census
Age eleven living at 40 South Street, Doncaster with father William, 39, mother Elizabeth, 37, and sisters Grace Daisy, ten, Ada, six and brother Sydney, seven.
Education
The Newbury family moved to Radcliffe on Trent in the early 1900s. Alvin, his brother and sisters were educated at Mundella School, Collygate Road, Nottingham.
1911 Census
Age 21, a railway clerk, living at ‘Tenedos’, Cropwell Road, Radcliffe on Trent, with his family. Sydney, 17, was a clerk in a lace warehouse. His sister Daisy (Grace), 20, was a student at University College Nottingham and his sister Ada, 16, at Mundella school working as a pupil teacher.
Military Service
Rank: Corporal
Service Number: 2770
Military Unit: 1st/6th (City of London) Battalion (Rifles), 47th (Second London) Division
Theatre of War: France and Flanders, date of entry 18.3 1915. Total war service abroad thirteen months.
Alvin enlisted in London City Rifles with his brother Sydney on September 7th 1914. Sydney was working in London at the time. After training at Watford, Alvin Newbury embarked for France on March 17th 1915 with his brother Sydney. He was in action at the Battle of Loos that autumn. In 1916 he was killed in a mine explosion at Vimy Ridge. His battalion was on a tour of duty at Vimy Ridge which began in March 1916. On April 30th, it suffered over 80 casualties from a German mine explosion under the British Line. The crater was later renamed Mildren Crater, after their Commanding Officer. His battalion had fought at the Battle of Loos in September 1915; they returned to the line in December 1915 around Hulluch before their tour of Vimy Ridge.
Pension Record Card
His parents were awarded 5 shillings (25p) per week.
Medals Awarded: 1914-1915 Star, British War and Victory
Go to WWI Timeline to see how this man’s death is part of the wider story of the war.
Probate to William Henry Newbury, railway inspector
Other information
Alvin had a fiancée called Emmy, surname unknown.
His sisters, both trained teachers, were were employed as V.A.D. Red Cross nurses in WWI (see biographies for Ada and Grace Newbury). Alvin’s death was recorded in Mundella school magazine shortly after he lost his life.
Reasons for inclusion on Radcliffe on Trent Roll of Honour
Lived in Radcliffe on Trent with parents and siblings.