Private, ALFRED LESLIE SHAW 27347. Born in Easingwold, Yorkshire, in 1898, Alfred was the second of six children and the eldest son of Alfred (1872-1918) and Isabel Shaw (1871-1942), of 19 Lanark Street, Hull and 41, Princes Street, Hull (war Pension address). He was also the grandson of Alderman, Shaw of Hull. He worked as a Labourer. He was 5 foot, 5.5 inches tall, 112 lbs weight. 33-35 inch chest, and unmarried. He enlisted at Hull City Hall, on 30th August 1916. Served with the 10th East Yorkshire Regiment. He soon found himself in the trenches with the Pals fighting an enemy he couldn’t see, dug into ditches 200 yards away, across ground littered with the dead. He was killed in action on 28th March 1918 during the early days of the German Spring Offensive and is buried at Bienvillers Military Cemetery. He had served in the army for 1 year and 322 days. He was 20 years old; just a boy. It gets worse. His father died in the same month. Could it be a tragic coincidence, or could he just not face the loss of his son? Either way it compounded the misery of Isabel Shaw, and although the couple were living apart by this point, it must have seemed as if the world was collapsing around her. She moved to 4 Willow Grove, Princes Road, Hull (War Pension address).
His death was reported in the Hull Daily Mail, on 29/11/1916.
