217687 Pte. Alfred Thompson British Army 3rd Btn. Worcestershire Regiment from:Birmingham, England Private Alfred Thompson was the son of Mrs. Martha Thompson, of 2 Bk, 24 Florence St., Holloway Head, Birmingham. He was executed for desertion 26/07/1915, aged 25 and is buried in Aeroplane Cemetery, Belgium.
Private Thompson was a regular soldier and had been with the Worcestershire Regiment 3rd Battalion since the beginning of November 1914. On the 27th June 1915, Private Thompson absconded with Private John Robinson after they were told that they were to be on night duty in trenches near Hooge. The 3rd Battalion had been in action in this area since 16th June.
On 5th July 1915 both Private Thompson and Private Robinson were arrested at Abancourt while they were sitting on a train bound for Rouen.
At their court martial in a statement it said that both men were good soldiers, but that it appeared they were suffering from nervous strain at the time they went absent.
Thompson was shot by firing squad with 4 other deserters from the 3rd Battalion on the ramparts of Ypres on 26th July 1915. He was 25 years of age.
He was originally buried at the Ramparts Cemetery but was later transferred to the Aeroplane Cemetery, Belgium, 3.5 Km northeast of Ypres town centre
The mass pardon of 306 British Empire soldiers executed for certain offences during the Great War was enacted in section 359 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, which came into effect on royal assent on 8th November 2006.
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