WORLD WAR I
Bingham War Memorial
Service Record
| 8013 | Private Albert Amos Hill | Age 23 Prince of Wales’s ( North Staffordshire Regiment) 7th Battalion |
Born 1894 |
| Killed in action on 25th January,1917 at retaking of Kut (Mesopotamia) | Buried at Amara War Cemetery (Iraq) | Grave ref: XVII. C. 3. | |
| Forces War Records.co.uk | The 7th (Service) Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment was formed at Lichfield in August 1914. In July 1915 it had moved to Gallipoli and fought against the Turks until January 1916 when it moved via Egypt to Mesopotamia. This sector was the scene in mid-1916 of one of the most humiliating defeats the British Army suffered in WW1 when some 13000 British troops surrendered to the Ottomans at the battle of Kut al Amara. Under a new Commander a force of 50,000 British troops regained their position by mid December 1916 and went on to capture Baghdad in March 1917. Progress had been slow and. British casualties were not insignificant due the fierce fighting of both the Turks and the indigenous Marsh Arabs who attacked both sides at every opportunity. The date of Private Hill’s death indicates that he was killed during this campaign. | ||
| War Diary | The war diary describes the preparations for an assault on
the 25th January, during which Albert was killed. The attack on one Turkish
trench cost over 140 lives (including the missing). The diary describes
how after an initial success the battalion had to retreat; however the trench
was eventually re-taken and a burial service held there. A day was spent
collecting dead bodies along with pay books and other material. The action took place on the Hai Canal 300 kilometres north west of modern Basra in what is now Iraq and was then Mesopotamia. |
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| Ancestry | Enlisted in Burton on Trent | ||
| Medal Card | Two medal cards have Albert’s number, but one has his
initials as AM. Both are for the North Staffs Regiment, only one (the second)
is endorsed “KiA”. The first shows that Albert was awarded the
British Victory Medals, along with most other soldiers. The second noted
that someone returned
the Star to the war office. This war medal card shows he entered the
theatre of war coded named 20 2b (Gallipoli) on 18th September 1915. No other army records on Ancestry |
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| CWGC Register | Son of Eliza Young (Formerly Hill), of Fairfield St., Bingham, Nottingham, and the late Edward Hill. | ||
| SDiGW | Soldiers died in Great War show residence as Bingham (1917) | ||
| Register of Effects | On 26th June 1917 Albert’s back pay of £22.16s.6d.was paid in nearly equal portions of £4.6s.1d to his mother and each of his siblings: Sarah, Adelaide, Robert and Ezra. Thomas, for reasons unknown to us, received only £1.6.1 | On 28th November 1919 a War Gratuity of £11.0.0. was paid to his mother, Eliza Young (she had remarried - see below). | |
Photos by courtesy of Roy Hill
 Amos Hill 1914 |
 Amos’s mother and step-father 1937 |
 Amos unknown date before 1914 |
 Widow’s Penny inscribed Albert Amos Hill |
Family history etc
| 8013 | Private Albert Amos Hill | ||
| 1894 | Born 11th Jan 1894 Wycomb, 5 miles north of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire | ||
| Census 1891 | Father (to be): Edward Hill, b 1856 Scalford, living in Wycomb with: Wife: Eliza, b 1861 Bourne Lincs Children: Adelaide Jane Mary b 1884 Chadwell (same parish as Wycomb) d before 1901? Sarah Elizabeth Theodora, b 1888 Wycomb Robert Edward, b 1888 Wycomb Ezra, b1890 Wycomb |
Agricultural labourer | |
| 1899 Free BMD |
Father Edward Hill died March qtr. 1899. September 1899 Eliza married William Young. |
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| Census 1901 | Living in Hose, Leicestershire with: Stepfather: William Young, b 1863 Cropwell Mother: Eliza Siblings: Sarah ET Robert E Ezra Thomas Henry, b 1893 Wycomb |
Horse carter |
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| 1909 | A William Young of the right age died in Blaby district, Leicestershire June 1909 | ||
| Census 1911 | Albert and most of the family not found on the census. But: Mother: Eliza widowed living alone in 2 roomed house in Old Dalby, Leics Ezra was living with: Edward Walts, in Borough on the Hill, 6 miles south of Melton Mowbray Thomas Henry was boarding with the Smiths at Station Cottage, Hose |
Farm servant Grazier Cowman |
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| Census records for 1911 suggest the family broke up for some reason. | |||
| Electoral roll | Eliza Young is listed on the 1918 and 1921-24 rolls as living in Fairfield Street. | ||