Allsopp Edward

ALLSOPP, EDWARD

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents	Mary Anne Allsopp				4
Where born	Uttoxeter, Staffordshire		Yes		1
When born	Abt Sept 1896				2a 2b
When born	Abt July 1896				6
Address	Wall, Staffordshire		Yes		1
Address	Church Cottages, Wall, near Lichfield				4
Spouse
Children
Employment Before Joining up	Farm Servant				4
Where Enlisted	Lichfield, Staffordshire		Yes		1
When Enlisted	26th Nov 1915				1
Regiment	North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales’s)	Yes	Yes
Unit	1st Bn	Yes	Yes		1
Rank	Corporal	Yes	Yes		1 4
Service Number	19391	Yes	Yes		1 4
Date of Death	21st March 1918	Yes	Yes		1
Age at time of death	21 or 22				2
Age at time of death	21 and about 8 months				7
Where Killed or died	France/Flanders		Yes
How he died	Killed in Action		Yes		1
Location of Grave or Memorial	Vadencourt British Cemetery, Maissemy – Grave IV. D. 5.	Yes			5
Awards	Victory Medal				4
Awards	British War Medal				4
Where Commemorated	Wall Church				1

Edward was a son of Mary Ann Allsopp and was born in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 1896. His pension records held in the National Archives list his sisters as follows on the 23rd of October 1919:

Sisters of Full blood of the late 19391 Cpl E. Allsopp:

Emily Flint (Mrs.) age 40 Stockton Lane, Walton, W. Stafford

Fanny Woodfield (Mrs.) age 36 Miners Arms, Madeley, Shropshire

Mary Ellen Allsopp age 27, Church Cottages, Wall, Lichfield

Ruth Allsopp age 25, Infirmary, Union, Uttoxeter

Gertrude Smith (Mrs.) age 20, Hilton, Muckley xxxxx, Lichfield

Edward was a Farm Servant in Civilian life and whilst he was born in Uttoxeter, he lived in Church Cottages, Wall (near Lichfield).

Edward was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal in recognition of his service.

Edward joined up at Lichfield4 on the 26th of November 1915. He was 19 years old and although he had received call-up papers from the South Staffordshire Regiment, he enrolled into the 1st Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment. Initially he served as 19131 Private E. Allsopp.

At the time of enlistment he was a diminutive 5 ft 3½ inches tall and had a chest measurement of 34½ inches. He gave his religion as Church of England.

He was posted with the British Expeditionary Force on the 6th of June 1916, having served in England until the 5th of June 1916. He therefore went abroad less than a month before the opening of the battle of the Somme and saw action at the Somme, during the Spring Offensives of 1917 (the Battle of Arras) and the Battle of Passchendaele.

He was appointed as a Lance Corporal (without the associated pay) on the 28th April 1917 and this was confirmed with pay on the 27th of August of the same year. He was promoted to a full Corporal on the 14th of November 1917, which corresponds with the closing stages of the Battle of Passchendaele.

He was Killed in Action at the age of 22 on the opening day of the German Spring Offensives of 1918. This was when Germany poured vast armies into the Western Front in an attempt to win the war before the Americans could mobilise effectively.

Edward is buried in Vadencourt British Cemetery, Maissemy – Grave IV. D. 5. The photographs below were taken on the 22nd March 2008, almost exactly 90 years after he was killed:

Wall Church, War Memorial and Church Cottages today.