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213715 Rfm. Alfred Jacob Worz British Army 1/8th Battalion (Post Office Rifles) London Regiment from:Lambeth (d.1st Nov 1915) Alfred was born in 1897 in Lambeth, London, of German decent. As the story goes his German father, Jakob, had been sent to England following the death of his own father in either the Austro-Prussian or Franco-Prussian War. Jakob worked as a baker in London and took the English name of ‘Jack Adams’ after attacks on German owned shops, including his own, as a result of anti-German feeling during the war. As a 17 year old, with a German surname Alfred must have experienced a degree of social pressure to ‘join up’. Alfred enlisted, sometime toward the end of February 1915 in Bermondsey, London and served in the City of London Regiment, 1/8th Battalion (Post Office Rifles). Alfred entered the Theatre of War in France on 18th August 1915. The 1/8th fought at the Battle of Loos on 25th September. The 1/8th Battalion Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel A.D. Derviche-Jones D.S.O. M.C. noted that the Post Office Rifles had "every reason to be proud of their part in the battle, having come in at a critical and nasty moment, and succeeded in re-establishing the success achieved by others". By the end of October 1915 the Battalion found themselves occupying an ‘unpleasant sector’ in front of Hill 70, east of Loos. It was during this ‘unpleasant time’, on the 1st November 1915 that Alfred was killed, days before the 47th Division was relieved and the Battalion moved to Lillers for a months’ rest. Alfred had been in France less than 3 months. Alfred and six other Post Office Riflemen, who died within three days of each other, are buried in the same row in Dud Corner Cemetery, Loos, France. Approximately 12,000 men fought with the Regiment. By the end of the War 1800 men from the Post Office Rifles would be dead and 4,500 more would be wounded. Alfred’s name, although misspelt as ‘Wortz’, appears on the Post Office Memorial inside Southwark/Rotherhithe delivery office. Please type your message:      We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit. Your Name:             Email Address:       @ **Please put the first part of your email, (before the @ sign) in the first box, and the second part in the second box. Do not include @, it is automatic. Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**