Albert Shore
Private 7396
1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regt.
Division 80
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Albert Shore was the eldest son of Edward and Alice Shore, of 124, Liverpool Road, Reading. He is commemorated, with his brother, on a shield on his parents’ grave. Grave number 17093; The Berkshire Family History Society grave classification is 80B10. Albert and Arthur died within three weeks of each other in November 1914.
Albert Shore was recorded in the 1911 census as a general labourer but it is known that he had been a regular soldier, as a Reservist of three years he would have been called up immediately upon the outbreak of war. He probably experienced the early battles of the war at Mons, the retreat from Mons, the Marne, the Aisne and the First Battle for Ypres. During the first week of November, the battalion, fought around Inverness Copse, Sanctuary Wood and Railway Wood. On the 6th November they advanced the front line towards Zwartellen. On the 7th November they came under heavy fire from the east of the village. Albert Shore was killed in action on 7th November 1914.
The war historian of the regiment recorded that many men were forced to lie out in the open all day, unable to get back to their line. 43 men were killed, 47 wounded and 8 missing. At roll call only 3 officers and 213 men were present. The previous month there had been 25 officers and 970 men. The body of Albert Shore was never found and his name was accordingly recorded on the Ypres Memorial to the Missing the Menin Gate he is commemorated on Panel 22 and 34.
Albert was initially been recorded as missing and it was not until December that two men reported to an Infantry Record Officer, Corporal Ryder, that Shore had been shot and they believed him dead. The report was confirmed and reported on April 17th 1915. We are told in the Standard report that he had been a Reservist for three years and before the war had worked as a warehouseman at Messers Kingham’s, Kings Road. He left a widow and a child of three. It isbelieved that his wife’s name was Poly Birdand that they married in 1911.
Arthur William Shore
Able Seaman 239119
HMS “Bulwark”
Arthur Shore was the brother of Albert. He was lost at sea on the 26 November 1914. His name is commemorated upon the Portmouth Naval Memorial. He was 25 years old. On this day the Bulwark sank off Sheerness after an explosion that killed almost all the 700 ratings and the officers on board. Several sites on the internet give details of the disaster and the coroners report of ‘Accidental Death’.
