Middleton, Albert Edward

Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE ALBERT EDWARD MIDDLETON 30351. Born in June 1899, Albert was the third of eight children to William and Mary Middleton of 25 Wood Lane, Beverley. Enlisting on 27th April 1917, he trained in England for the rest of that year and appears to have not taken too well to Military discipline for he was charged with ‘Disobeying An Order’ that November (by a Sgt Burnett) and with overstaying a pass by almost a full day in January 1918. Albert arrived in France in April 1918 and was sent to the 10th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, the Hull Pals. He is officially listed as having been killed in action on 28th September 1918 but his story is a much more complicated one. He was originally listed as ‘Missing’ on that day, and efforts were made to discover his whereabouts. These being unsuccessful, the army appear to have then set about trying to match him to unidentified remains. On 27th November 1918 they wrote to ‘D.Toyne and Sons Seedsmen, Florists and Bulb Importers’ at 8 Paragon Street, Hull (presumably his employers) to enquire after information regarding any particulars that could be used to identify him; and it wasn’t until February 1919 that they found a witness who would testify to the fact that he had indeed died that day. Discovering this paper trail was quite an eye-opener for me, seeing the lengths the authorities went to in order to find their man. Sadly Albert Edward Middleton’s body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing; he was 19 years old.