JAMES ALBINSON 

James ALBINSON
Rank: Private
Service Number:3208.
Regiment: 1/7th Bn Cheshire Regiment
Killed In Action Friday 20th August 1915
Age 23
FromMacclesfield.
County Memorial Macclesfield
Commemorated\Buried Helles Memorial
Grave\Panel Ref: Panel 76 to 78.
CountryTurkey

James's Story.

EARLY LIFE

James Albinson was born in 1892 in Macclesfield, the son of Sarah Ann Albinson and brother of Joseph, Walter and Fanny Albinson. The family was in the Macclesfield Union Workhouse in Prestbury Road at the time of the 1901 census, where Sarah Ann was described as a widowed charwoman.

By 1911 the family had moved to 2 Rodney Street, Macclesfield and James was working as a cord maker.

 

WW1 SERVICE

James attested at Macclesfield, joining the 7th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, and following a period of training in various locations in the south of England, the 7th Cheshires, as part of 159th Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division, received orders to equip for service in an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean. In July 1915 they sailed from Devonport to Alexandria in Egypt, then on to the island of Lemnos on the 4th August.

On the evening of 8th August, the Battalion arrived off the coast of Gallipoli and the following day landed at “C” Beach, Suvla Bay. Having landed, they came under shell fire at about 8.30am and so moved north along the edge of the bay; they then received orders to attack in the direction of a dip in the hills behind Anafarta Saghir.

At 8am on 10th August the Battalion was ordered to attack Hill 70. This was unsuccessful and the Battalion suffered severe losses. A second unsuccesssful attack took place at 5pm.

The following day at 2.30pm the Brigade moved north, but the 7th Cheshires and 4th Welsh Regiments on the left were under attack so had to pull back. The 7th Cheshires remained in this position in trenches for several days.

James was killed in action on 20th August 1915, aged 23 years; his death was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 17 September 1915:

DIED FIGHTING GALLANTLY: TWO BROTHERS DIE FOR THEIR COUNTRY - Mr Joseph Albinson, son of the late Mrs S A Albinson, 39 Park Lane, Macclesfield, had an official intimation on Friday that his brother, Private James Albinson, 1/7th Batt Ches Regt was killed in action in the Dardanelles on August 20th. Mr Albinson has also received the following letter from Sergeant H Warner, who sent Private Albinson's Testament, which had been presented to him by Mr N B Storey: "It is my painful duty to inform you that your brother was killed in action on August 20th. I may say that James died fighting gallantly as a true Englishman and gentleman. He passed away quickly and did not suffer. He was buried the same day and the correct church funeral service was read over him. I offer you my heart-felt sympathy in this sad bereavement...

Private Albinson, who enlisted in January, was formerly employed by Mr Jackson, Mill Street. He was 23 years of age and attended Mill Street Mission. He is the second member of the family to give his life for his country, his brother, Private Walter Albinson, 3rd Cheshire Regt, being killed at Ypres on April 29th. Deceased has a cousin in the 2/7th Battalion Cheshire regiment, now in training at Bedford.

 

COMMEMORATION

Private James Albinson has no known grave and he is commemorated on Panel 76-78 of the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for James Albinson, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.

In Macclesfield, Private James Albinson is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall and St Michael's Church memorials.

 

NOTES

Brother of Walter Albinson who was killed in action on the Western Front in April 1915.


Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.