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Pte. Alfred Albert Morss
British Army 7th Battalion Essex Regiment
from:Walthamstow
Alfred Albert Morss served as a member of the 1/7th Btn the Essex Regiment having enlisted in 1915 and served until 1919. He was a keen footballer and played for the battalion football team. He played post war for a while in East London until receiving a serious leg injury and worked as a cabinet maker in East London, He never really spoke about his service - other than to relate that he only fired his rifle once in anger at the Ottoman Turks and that he worked in the field kitchens having been trained in the army as a butcher. His unit were part of the reinforcement at Gallipoli and then were transferred to help in the defence of the Suez Canal zone and may have been involved in the Battle of Gaza.
During World War 2 he was too old for active service and remained with his family throughout the London blitz. A story from this period is that my aunt was on fire watch duty during a particularly heavy incendiary raid in 1940 and he was sent out to check that she was alright. He cycled down the road saw the factory was still untouched and reported back - all's well!
His brother's served in units ranging from Finsbury Rifles, Royal Horse Artillery, Duke of Cambridge Middlesex Regiment and lost one brother, George who was killed in action on 20th September 1917 serving with the Kings Royal Rifle Corps on the opening day of the British offensive at Passcehendale (George is remembered at the Tyne Cot cemetery in Flanders)
