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Cpl. William Frederick Alley
British Army 22nd (Service) Battalion (Kensington) Royal Fusiliers
from:37 Lynton Road, Kilburn, London
Will Alley is my maternal grandfather. He had a glass eye which he would sneakily place on my shoulder and say "I've got my eye on you!" The glass eye was the result of an injury in the trenches in 1916. He always told us that a sniper's bullet killed the soldier next to him and then shot out his eye. According to his military records: Disability Gun shot wound. Date of disability: He states 4.2.1916, Place of disability: He states Givenchy. He states that while on sentry duty in trench at Givenchy he was shot through the mouth by rifle bullet which continued its course through nose and entered left eye. His eye was removed same day at Bethune Hospital, France. His MHS shows that his eye was removed for bullet wound same day in France. The report states No 654 Pte E.R. Clark, 22nd Roy Fus, is supposed to have wounded Pte Alley by the accidental discharge of his rifle in the front line trench., There were no witnesses of the accident Present condition is reported as: His left eye is enucleated and has left a socket which is fairly healthy but is occasionally subject to attacks of conjunctivitis. RE vision = 6/36 [myopic] and with glass vision is 6/12.
