Albert Victor Lammas. Died 3rd Dec 1917
Albert was born to a large Hurst and Wokingham family, with nine brothers and sisters. Four of these siblings were from his mother Emily’s second marriage to Edward Priest. A cousin of Albert’s was Albert Priest, a surviving serviceman and later to become Mayor of Wokingham in the 1930’s. Albert left behind his mother and father Harry Lammas, living at 2 Osborne Road, Wokingham.
As many service records were destroyed in the Blitz of World War Two, we do not know when Albert joined the East Kent Regiment and the 1st 5th Battalion, but we do know he lost his life on the 3rd December 1917, whilst serving in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission describes the actions in Iraq:
‘In 1914, Baghdad was the headquarters of the Turkish Army in Mesopotamia. It was the
Baghdad Memorial. Click on image to increase size.
ultimate objective of the Indian Expeditionary Force ‘D’ and the goal of the force besieged and captured at Kut in 1916. The city finally fell in March 1917, but the position was not fully consolidated until the end of April. Nevertheless, it had by that time become the Expeditionary Force’s advanced base, with two stationary hospitals and three casualty clearing stations’.
Click on 1911 census record to increase size
Although Albert is away buried in Iraq, he is remembered alongside other Wokingham boys on the Baghdad Memorial, such as George Alexander and Fred Chambers. Albert was only 20 years old.
From Ken Priest (Descendant)
I am sending details of my uncle who is on the Town Hall Memorial. I understand by the request featured in the Wokingham Times you are gathering information on the veterans.
My name is Ken Priest, my father lost his dad as a small boy, his mother Emily re-married a Mr Harry Lammas.
Lance Corporal Albert Victor Lammas
G/12697, 1st/5th bn., The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
who died age 20 on the 03 December 1917
Son of Harry and Emily Lammas, of 2, Osbourne Road., Wokingham, Berkshire.
At rest at the BAGHDAD (NORTH GATE) WAR CEMERTERY.
I was also saddened by the lack of basic information on the memorial. There is another memorial located inside All Saints Church, this is in marble and affixed to the wall and carved with the names of the fallen.
As you see from the above I am part of an old Wokingham family, my father was born in 1886, his cousin was mayor three times and Priest Avenue is so named.
I have lived in the town centre all my life and seen all the changes come and go.
I wish you well in your task, Please update me on your progress and I hope the above information is helpful.
All my best wishes, Ken Priest.
From Sarah:
Dear Mr Priest,
thank you so much for getting in touch, yes, a colleague and I are researching all the 216 men commemorated on the town War Memorial. We have actually found out a little of the family history of your Uncle Albert using Ancestry.co.uk. I don’t know whether you are familiar with that website but one is able to search through Commonwealth war graves and lots of other records. Was your father Percy Priest?
I am sure there are some stories you can tell of the family and perhaps of Albert himself. What we aim to do is to build a website and maybe later a booklet with biographies of each soldier/sailor so any family stories as well as basic information will help us build a picture of those who gave their lives.
Your family is a very interesting one and if you ever have time perhaps you could write down anything that would help us get to know Albert ?
We hope to learn some more about Wokingham at the time of the Great War and perhaps you have some stories that would help with that.
Thank you once again for your interest and do get in touch if you’d like to.
Sarah
During research earlier today, I came across a reference in the Reading Mercury (edition dated 22nd December 1917), to the death of Pte Victor Lammes from dysentry