Skerman, Alfred William

Alfred was the fourth son of Alfred William and Eliza (nee Barton) Skerman, born on 3 March 1895 at Holloway, Islington, London.  He was a pupil at the Merchant Taylors School in Ashwell.

Alfred enlisted at Bedford with the Bedfordshire Regiment, Regimental Number 28062, on 6 March 1916.  On 3 April 1917 Alfred was sent to France with the 2^nd Battalion and saw active service in the Battles of Ypres.  He contracted trench foot and was returned to England in January 1918 to recuperate in a hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland.  He spent the remainder of the War working with salvage brigades based in depots in Ampthill and Felixstowe, England.  He survived the War and was demobbed on 25 September 1919.

He is commemorated on the St Mary’s Church Ashwell Roll of Honour.

Before enlisting Alfred worked as a bottler at a brewery.

The 1939 census shows him living at Ashwell, single and a brewery lorry driver.

It is not known if Alfred married or had children.

Alfred died on 15 December 1980 at Ashwell, Hertfordshire and is buried in the St Mary’s Church cemetery, Ashwell, Hertfordshire.

Alfred’s brothers Wilfred, Arthur and Herbert all served in the War and survived.