Alfred Henry Bates was born in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire in the spring of 1880 and baptised on Sunday, 2nd May in the same year at St Paul’s church in the village. He was the first child born to Frederick Bates and Elizabeth Anne Radcliffe who had a family of ten children together. The children were, Jane a half-sister, Alfred, Fred, Ted (Edwin), Phoebe Isabel, Isabelle Phoebe, Frank, Harry (Henry) and Jack (John). Phoebe died at birth in 1887 and one other child who cannot be identified also died at birth. The Bates family lived on the Common in Chipperfield where all the children grew up and went to school. When Alfred finished his education in 1893 he followed his father Frederick into general labouring work. This was still his occupation on the outbreak of war in August 1914 when Alfred was one of the first group of volunteers in the area.

He travelled to Bedford to attest, enlisting with the Bedfordshire Regiment and was immediately posted for training with the 6th Battalion. Initially, the battalion was attached to the 9th (Scottish) Division at Aldershot whilst training, but when the 37th Division was formed in March 1915, the Battalion was moved to Andover and trained on Salisbury Plain.  On the 21st April 1915, Alfred moved with the Division to Cholderton on the south east boundary of Salisbury Plain and continued training, until leaving for France where he landed on the 30th June and soon found himself at the Front.  A year after going to France, Alfred fought at the Battle of Bazentin in the opening phase of the Somme offensive, when the 6th Battalion suffered heavy casualties. It is not known if Alfred was amongst the men wounded but he did return to England before October 1916, and this may have been to recover.

When he was at home, he married his long-time sweetheart and sister-in-law, Annie Elizabeth Knighton who was a native of Raunds in Northamptonshire and worked in the shoe manufacturing trade in Wellingborough. They were married in St Barnabas Church in Wellingborough before Alfred had to go back to France. On his return he was posted to the 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment and by March 1918 he was with his unit as it fought in the Battle of St Quentin on the Somme. Over the next seven days he was involved in a number of actions which again proved costly for the Battalion which lost a total of 233 men killed, wounded or missing. These actions were part of Operation Michael including the Battle of Rosières where Alfred was died.

He was Killed in Action on Wednesday, 27th March 1918.

He was commemorated on the War Memorial plaque in St Paul’s Church in Chipperfield and on the village War Memorial on the Common opposite the Two Brewers pub.

Alfred is Remembered with Honour on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Bay 5.

He was 37 years old when he died.

Alfred was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.