HACKETT, Alfred

Alfred Hackett was the son of Robert Hackett of 41 Cherry Street, Hawne, Halesowen. He attended Halesowen C of E school and enlisted as a regular soldier before 1914 in the Loyals. At the outbreak of war he was at Aldershot in the 1st Battalion in the 1st Division of the British Expeditionary Force. By the 12th August they were in France and on the march to Mons. He would have then have experienced the retreat from Mons deep into France as far as the Marne. Here the BEF counter-attacked at a critical time and the German forces retreated to the river Aisne. In the consequent Battle of the Aisne Private Alfred Hackett was killed in action on the 14th September and is commemorated on the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial. He was the third Halesowen man to die in the war and is commemorated on the Halesowen and Halesowen C of E school Memorials.