200506, Corporal, 1/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment.
Missing In Action on the 10th October 1917 aged 32.
Tyne Cot Memorial - Belgium
Alexander was the son of John & Sarah Jane Gregory and was to lose his life in the closing stages of one of the major British offensives, The Third Battle of Ypres, more commonly known as the Battle of Passchendaele.
The offensive had been launched on 31 July 1917 and continued until the fall of Passchendaele village on 6 November. Although it resulted in gains for the Allies it was by no means the breakthrough General Haig intended, and such gains as were made came at great cost in human terms. The area had suffered the heaviest rains it had seen for 30 years and this, combined with intensive shelling from both sides, had turned the ground into a hellish morass.
On the 9th October 1917 the Battalion were located in two trenches called Canopus Trench and Califonia Drive, near a point called Winchester Farm, approximately 2 miles East of Passchendaele. They had been in the Front Line since the 27th September and had been fighting in terrible conditions. The following day the Battalion occupied shell holes near the village of Arbre under extremely trying conditions. It is not know at what point Alexander Gregory was killed but it is believed he may have been the victim of artillery fire.
His body was never been recovered and he has no known grave. His name is recorded on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium. (Panel 105/106.)
Medal Entitlement: British War Medal & Victory Medal