Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents	Mrs. Emma Crutchley	Yes	Does not appear in the database. He died too lateto be included.
Where born	Uttoxeter, Staffordshire	Yes
When born	About 1894				3
Address	Balance Hill, Uttoxeter			1b
	Uttoxeter				2
Spouse
Employment Before Joining up
When enlisted	August 1914			1b	2
Where enlisted	Uttoxeter Town Hall			1b	2
Regiment	North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales’s)	Yes			2
Unit	6th Bn.
	1st/6th (T.F.) Bn.				2
	6th Bn. “C” Company				6
Rank	Private	Yes		1b	2
Service Number	240526				2
	Formerly 2653	Yes			2.6
Date of Death	29 April 1920	Yes
Age at time of death	26, given that he was 22 in 1916			1b
	26	Yes
Where Killed or died	England
How he died
Location of Grave or Memorial	Uttoxeter Cemetery Grave New. I. 1945.	Yes			4
Awards

 

Intriguingly, Alexander (orAlec ) Crutchley does not appear on any of the town’s memorials, yet he is buried in Uttoxeter Cemetery and classed as Commonwealth War Dead.

He was born at Uttoxeter, a son of Mrs. Emma Crutchley and was one of three serving soldier sons^[1b].

Before the war he was a member of the Oldfields Cricket Club in Uttoxeter and played regularly with the second eleven^[1b].

He joined the 6th North Staffordshire Regiment during a rally held in August 1914^{[1b, 2]} and left Uttoxeter Station with recruits to join “G” Company, 1^st/6^th, at Luton on the 29^th of August 1914^[2]. This will have made him one of the elite band of men known as the “Old Contemptibles”.

On the 2^nd of October 1914 the Burton Daily Mail^[2] reported that he was serving as 2653, Private, with the 1^st/6^th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment.

He went through the battle of Loos in October 1915 without a scratch. ^{[1b, 2]}

We also know that he was wounded in the right arm in the battle of the Somme^{[1b, 2]}. The Regimental History^[6] confirms that he was wounded on the 1^st of July 1916, the opening day of the battle.

We do not know anything about the circumstances of his death, but presumably it was a direct result of his service in the forces, otherwise he would not be classed as Commonwealth War Dead. He did not die until 17 months after the Armistice.

 

Alec is buried in Uttoxeter Cemetery

 

Two of his brothers also served[1b, 2].

In July 1916, when news was received that Alec had been wounded, Ernest was in the Army Serice Corps and John, a Reservist in the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, was still undergoing treatment for wounds he had received at Neuve Chapelle[1b].