Selected Biographies

Brackley, Alfred Thomas – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 8.8.1899.[1]  Parents: Thomas Brackley (Wood Sawyer) [for details see below] and Laura [née Greer].  Home: Back Lane, Long Melford (1901), 53 Macanley Road, Plaistow, Essex [1903], 11 Torbay Terrace, Brixham, Devon [1917].  Service Record: Thomas attested on 13.8.1917 as N^o. DA17601 with the Royal Naval Reserve, being stationed at several shore establishments notably HMS Pekin at Grimsby in Lincolnshire, receiving his discharge in 1920.  He re-enlisted in the Royal Naval Patrol Service as N^o. LT/JX174529.[2]  Died: Thomas died at sea on 3.2.1941 while serving on HMT Arctic Trapper.  The naval trawler was bombed and sunk by the Luftwaffe in the North Sea off Ramsgate, Kent, with the loss of 17 crew.  He is buried in Grimsby [Scartho Road] Cemetery [grave ref: 116.H.5], Grimsby, Lincolnshire.[3]

Brackley, Thomas – Born: Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire in 1875.  Parents: George Brackley (General Labourer) and Hannah [née Terry].  Family Connections: Father of Alfred Thomas Brackley [b1899].  Home: High Street, Berkhamsted (1881 and 1891), Back Lane, Long Melford (1901), 53 Macanley Road, Plaistow, Essex [1903], emigrated to Australia c1917.  Occupation: General Labourer (1891), Wood Sawyer (1901).  Married: Laura Greer [d1912] in 1897 and Florence Agnes Tovey in 1917.  Service Record: No definitive military record has been found.  Died: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 11.3.1933.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from Brackley’s Board of Trade record. [2] Royal Naval Reserve Service Records [BT 377/7/64027] and Registry of Shipping and Seaman: Register of Seaman [BT 350/465920], Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/120], Royal Navy Register of Death [ADM 104/128]. [3] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record. .My thanks to Alan Simmonds of Sudbury for bringing this man to my attention.