Albert's Story.
Albert lived all his life in Stockport. He worked at Sykes' bleachworks in Edgeley and had been there for several years (the 1901 Census recording him, aged 16, as a bleacher). He was married and lived at 5 Potts Street, Portwood, with his wife and five children. His original service number, 3738, suggest he was not an early recruit and may have enlisted as late as mid-1915. He was killed in an attack in the later weeks of the Third Battle of Ypres. His company officer later wrote to Mrs Norbury "Your husband was killed by a sniper while trying to get forward with his Lewis gun. We bandaged him up and everything that could be done for him was done but unfortunately without success. The one redeeming feature was that he had very little pain. "Lewis guns were light machine guns operated by a two-man team. They were pushed forward to support the advance of infantryman and were always targets for enemy snipers. There is some confusion about the date of his death. Regimental records published after the war now known as "Soldiers Died in the Great War show it as above. However, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records it as 4 September. An examination of the Battalion's War Diary records that, on 4 September, it was having a relatively quiet time in the trenches and there is no mention of casualties. On the other hand, the above letter from his officer states he was killed "going forward" in an attack. All the evidence suggests that 20 September is the correct date.