Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : Private

Army Number : 9435

Unit : 1st Bn

Biography :

Home address given as Melbourne, Derbyshire. Enlisted at Leicester. Served with 1st Bn during World War One. Died of wounds in United Kingdom 31.5.1915, aged 21. He is buried at Diseworth (St. Michael) Churchyard, Leicestershire. His death certificate shows that he died in a Red Cross Hospital in Folkestone after only a few months at the front. He had lived in Diseworth as a farm worker before the war and so It is assumed his body was returned back for burial.

On enlistment John Frederick Allcroft stated he was born in West Ham in 1894 but there is no record of his birth and the first time he is identifiable is in the 1901 census when he is living with an apparently unrelated family of shepherds in Essex. It is likely that he was an orphan and was sent out to this family to acquire farming skills. By the 1911 census John was working as a horseman on a farm in Diseworth in Leicestershire and we know he was sent to a local agricultural college to improve his skills. However the war came along and together with other young men from the village, including ones like him who had come from orphanages and Industrial Schools many miles away, he enlisted in the Leicestershire Regiment. He was wounded in action and died of those wounds on 31st May 1915 at the Bevan Red Cross Hospital in Folkestone after seeing action in Flanders and France. His body was returned and he is buried in Diseworth Churchyard.

Newspaper Report:

Diseworth: Impressive scenes attended the funeral of Private John Allcroft, 1st Leicesters, at the Parish Church, Diseworth, on Thursday last. The young soldier who was only 21 was wounded first in the battle of Mons, and after recuperating for a time in England returned again to the front. He sustained no less than six wounds and was taken to the Military Hospital at Sandgate, Kent, for treatment, but sadly succumbed. There was a large gathering in the church, where the official clergyman, the Reverend S Hosgood (Vicar of Lockington) delivered an address. The "Dead March" was played, and the deceased's favourite hymn, "Lead, kindly light", was sung. A firing party from Donnngton Hall was present, and the "Last Post" was sounded. The chief mourners were Mr and Mrs Brooks and family, and Mr and Mrs Summerfield, of Castle Donington, who placed beautiful wreaths on the coffin.

Some information from private source.

CWGC:

ALLCROFT, JOHN FREDERICK
Rank: Private
Service No: 9435
Date of Death: 31/05/1915
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment 1st Bn.
Grave Reference Cemetery: DISEWORTH (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD

Date of Birth : 1894

Place of Birth : West Ham, Essex

Date of Death : 31.5.1915

Place of Death : Folkestone, Kent

Civil Occupation : Farm worker

Period of Service : 1910s

Conflicts : WW1

Places Served : France & Flanders