07/11/2022
As we approach another Remembrance Day I look back on a tribute to my grandfather 2/Lt James Alec Rattray who was killed in action serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery of the British Army, on 23 September, 1917.
The 5th Seige Battery was providing support to the advance of Australian Troops in the early part of the battle of the Menin Road.
On that day two other members of the battery were killed: one was Gunner George Goddard #167954 son of Maria and the late James Goddard; husband of Rosa Maude Goddard, of Berry Hill, Nunney, Frome.
The other was simply listed as Corporal A Nagle there was no family detail, not even his age. I found this terribly sad as this young man had died in the service of his country, was buried in a patch of foreign ground, and was remembered, probably due to inaccurate record keeping, only by an initial, a surname and a number. I decided to find this A Nagle and through the wonders of online research, and a couple of hours digging deep, he now has a proper name, a family, a history.
He was Alfred John William Nagle, born in St Pancras, Middlesex on 14 August 1896. His father was Alfred Henry Nagle, a carman in Kentishtown, his mother was Ellen, and he had 5 brothers and sisters. I could not find any attestation papers for his enlistment but by September 1917, he was an Acting Sergeant with 5 Siege Battery near Ypres.
He died along with Gunner Goddard and my grandfather in a fierce German artillery counter attack. He was 21 years old. He too, is buried at Bard Cottage Cemetery and I have contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to update his casualty records.
Acting Sergeant Alfred John William Nagle I am pleased to give you back your name. With respect. May you long be remembered.
