SERGEANT ALBERT SIMPSON 11/149. Born in 1893, Son of William Simpson (1851-1925) & Hannah Short Robinson (1852-1945), of 4 Butcher’s Row, Seaton and 10 Cawood Avenue, Field Street, Hull (Hull Daily Mail address, 30/05/1917). Albert was the youngest of seven children. He was 5 foot, 6 inches tall, 140lbs weight, 36-38 inch chest, brown eyes, black hair, and a Primitive Methodist. A Shipping Agent’s Clerk before the war, Albert queued outside City Hall in the long uneven lines of early September 1914 joining the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, Hull Pals. He joined as a Private but quickly rose through the ranks during training and was already a Sergeant when the battalion sailed for Alexandria, Egypt in December 1915. Arriving in France during March 1916, Albert saw barely two months of the trenches before being killed in action on 30th May 1916. I cannot help but think Albert was the second body that so unnerved Private Graystone laid next to Harry Hall in the bottom of the trench awaiting burial after dark. Albert is buried at Sucrerie Military Cemetery; he was 23 years old.
His name is recorded on the St Mary’s Church, Sculcoates Lane, Roll of Honour.
