Alfred George Tebby was born in Chesham in the summer of 1885 the first child of Joseph Thorpe Tebby and Catherine Roff who had a family of six children together. These were Alfred George, Samuel David, Catherine Amy, William Joseph, Ella Irene and Eva Vera. William died young in 1902 aged three. Alfred’s father Joseph was a ‘Carpenter and Joiner’ by trade and he opened a shop in Chesham selling furniture some of which he made. He was recorded variously on census returns and in trade directories as a ‘House Furnisher’ and an ‘ Upholsterer’ all the while running his shop at 107 High Street in Chesham. Whilst at school Alfred twice won 1st and 2nd prizes for vegetable growing and seems to have specialised in peas and broad beans. His winnings amounted to eight shillings, a tidy sum for the eight-year-old. When he left school, he initially joined his father in the business, but he subsequently applied for a position with the Post Office.

In December 1900, when he had reached the qualifying age, he was accepted as a ‘Learner’ at nearby Amersham and two years later, he moved to Southall, west London to take up a position as a 'Junior Clerk'. Outside work, Alfred was a keen footballer and played with a local team Chesham Generals as a centre forward in the Spartan League. The Generals merged with Chesham Town in 1917 to form today's semi-professional Chesham United. His time with the Post Office lasted only a few years before he left to take up a position managing a branch of his father’s furniture business which had opened at 2 Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead in an area locally known as ‘Cheapside’. This was located where Queensway and Marlowes meet today, and where the West Herts College now stands. By 1911, Alfred and his sister Catherine were living above the shop on 'Cheapside' but by this time, he had met Florence Batchelor.

She was a local girl and lived on Astley Road nearby and had been Alfred’s sweetheart for some time. They were married on Monday, 27th May 1912 in St Mary’s Church on the High Street in Hemel Hempstead. The couple then set up home just across the road from 'Cheapside' on Alma Road where they lived when war broke out. Alfred continued to work in the furniture shop, but he also offered his services to the Post Office once more and whilst managing the store, he carried out important communications work as a member of local postal staff.

He was eventually called up under the Military Services Act in 1916 however, his father, who was his employer, appealed to the local tribunal for an exemption for his son so that his business could continue to operate. The appeal was successful, and Alfred was granted a four-month exemption in March 1916. This subsequently extended to ten months before Alfred was  summoned a second time to serve at the start of 1917. His father appealed once more and the Hemel Gazette recorded the outcome as follows: “…appeal by employer, J. T. Tebby, High-street, Chesham. Mr. Marnham said the appellant had had ten months exemption and he could not consent to any further time. Appeal refused…” Alfred travelled to Watford immediately where he attested and enlisted with the Royal Engineers and was posted to the 23rd Divisional Signals Company. By the time he went overseas his unit was in Italy as part of the 70th Brigade under the orders of the 23rd Division.

It is not known exactly when Alfred went out to Italy, but during 1918 the worldwide influenza epidemic, or ‘Spanish Flu’, was wreaking havoc and the armies of the Axis and the Allies were no exception. At some point after his arrival, Alfred contracted the virus which in turn caused him to develop Bronchopneumonia, a bacterial form of the disease often associated with slower acting forms of the flu virus.

His illness proved fatal and Alfred died in hospital in Italy on Saturday, 9th November 1918. 

Sadly, the end of the Great War occurred a week before the Armistice was signed on the 11th November 1918, and had it not been for his illness, Alfred may well have survived the conflict.

He is commemorated on the War Memorial Plaque in St Mary’s Church on the High Street in what is now Hemel Hempstead Old Town.

Alfred is Remembered with Honour in the Tezze British Cemetery Treviso, Italy, where he is interred at Plot 5. Row B. in Grave 11. The inscription on his headstone, requested by his wife Florence, reads “IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR HUSBAND GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN THOUGH FAR AWAY”.

He was 33 years old when he died.

Alfred was entitled to the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.