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92087 16th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
Albert Byford was born in Ballingdon around 1894, the youngest of eight children of Charles and Eliza Charlotte Byford (née Durrant). His father was a labourer at a local maltings and the family lived in Ballingdon Street. By 1901 his father had died and the family had moved to 4 Bulmer Road next door to his maternal grandmother. At the age of 17 Albert was employed as a mat maker, he was still living in Sudbury when he enlisted in Luton in Bedfordshire as a Driver in the Army Service Corps (formerly T4/160642).
It is not known when Albert transferred to the Sherwood Foresters which formed part of 117th Brigade, 39th Division. In July 1917 the Allies launched an offensive to break out of the salient of trenches around Ypres in the Third Battle of Ypres more commonly known as the Battle of Passchendaele. Albert’s battalion saw action at the battles of Pilckem Ridge (21 July – 2 August), Langemarck (16 – 18 August), Menin Road (20 -25 August) and Polygon Wood (26 September – 3 October).
Bad weather in October led to the battlefield becoming a quagmire of mud. The battalion saw further action at final phase of the offensive at the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26 October – 10 November). There were enormous casualties on both sides.
Albert died of wounds on 21 November 1917 and lies buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinghe. It is not known when Albert was injured but Lijssenthoek was the largest evacuation hospital in the Ypres salient with four large casualty clearing stations. There are almost 11,000 burials in the cemetery, which is the second largest CWGC cemetery in Belgium.
Albert was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal. A Cross of Remembrance was laid by his grave in April 2009.
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