Alfred Chisman was born in Highgate, Middlesex in 1868 and baptised on Friday, 12th February 1869 at All Saints Church nearby. He was the fifth child born to Thomas Chisman and Susannah Clench who had eight children together. Alfred’s siblings were, Matilda, Alice, William, Robert and his younger brother George and two younger sisters, Florence and Agnes Margaret. His brother William died when young. When Alfred was born, his family were living on Hampstead Lane in Highgate and his father Thomas was working as a “Domestic” which appears to have been a job as a Coachman. Shortly after the 1871 Census, Thomas moved his growing family to nearby Southwood Lane and was may have been working at nearby Southwood Court a s Coachman for the John Johnston, a wealthy Assayer and Goldsmith.

Alfred left school in 1882 and followed his father into domestic service when he obtained a position as a “Groom”. He was still working in this capacity when he decided to join the Army Militia and served with the 3rd (City of London) Battalion Royal Fusiliers. It was common for young working men to enlist with the Militia Regiments as a way of supplementing their wages and in Alfred’s case, it seems he may have claimed to be a year older than he was in order to be accepted. This fact is borne out on his attestation papers when he joined the Regular Army.

On the 1st February 1886, he attested at Hounslow and enlisted with the Royal Fusiliers. On attesting he gave his age as “18 years and 9 months”, presumably to perpetuate his age claim when he enlisted with the Militia. By October 1886 he was posted to Egypt with the Regiment and spent the next year and four months there before returning to England in February 1888, by which time he had been promoted Corporal. A year later he was promoted Sergeant and in February 1893, his initial period of service ended when he was transferred to the Army Reserve. Following the end of his military service, Alfred married his sweetheart Elizabeth Charlotte Rowe, at St Augustine’s Church in Kilburn on Saturday, 6th January 1894. A year later, their first child Hilda May was born, and she was followed two years later by a son Alfred George.

Alfred had joined the Police force after leaving the Army and as a result the children were born in Potter’s Bar and Ware in Hertfordshire where he was stationed. By 1901 he and Elizabeth were living with the children in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and he had attained the rank of Sergeant in the Force. Alfred’s settled life was tragically disrupted in the summer of 1907 when his wife Charlotte died leaving him to raise the two children. By that time his job had brought the family to Hemel Hempstead where their home was the Police Station at the foot of Bury Hill. Following Charlotte’s passing, Alfred married for a second time to a widow (Harriet) Emma Edmonds (nee. Fisher), at St Paul’s Church on Monday, 21st December 1908. By 1911, Alfred had left the Police Force and had taken up employment as a “Hospital Porter” in the Hemel Hempstead “Joint Isolation Hospital” at Bennett’s End where Emma was “Matron”.

On the outbreak of war, Alfred immediately offered his services and re-enlisted with the Royal Fusiliers on the 29th August 1914 aged forty-three. He enlisted as a Private but was immediately restored to his old rank of Sergeant and posted to the 10th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. He was sent to Colchester where, due to his service experience, was appointed as instructor responsible for training new volunteers. He continued in this role until the Battalion was transferred to the 111th Brigade in the 37th Division in April 1915 and prepared to go to France.

At this point Alfred volunteered to go to the front with his comrade and on the 31st July 1915, he disembarked and by the end of the year he had seen action at The Battle of Ancre. The month before Ancre, Alfred took a little time to write home to a friend, Edgar Needham owner of the Gazette Printworks, which reveals some of his interests and maturity. It was published in the Hemel Gazette. (see extract)

On the 1st May 1916, Alfred’s war came to an end when he received a gunshot wound to the leg. The 10th Battalion Royal Fusiliers had just taken over at the front line near the village of Berles au Bois, south of Arras. It was during this relief that Alfred received his wound and he was immediately taken down the line and evacuated to Tidworth Military Hospital near Salisbury Plain for treatment. His medical records show that he was already in poor health following the hard winter at the Front and he was suffering attacks of Rheumatism and had been afflicted with bouts of giddiness even before he enlisted in 1914.

His deteriorating health, coupled with his wounds led to the Army Medical Board categorising Alfred as “Medically unfit”, resulting in his honourable discharge on the 10th August 1916 and ascribing his Rheumatic Fever to “exposure on active service”. Alfred returned to Hemel Hempstead after his release from hospital and rejoined his wife Emma at his brand-new home at the new Joint Board (Isolation) Hospital, Bennett’s End which had opened on the 15th May 1915 and resumed his duties as Hospital Porter. In September 1916, Alfred was issued with the Silver War Badge for service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness from military service in World War I. The badge, sometimes known as the "Discharge Badge", the "Wound Badge" or "Services Rendered Badge", was first issued in September 1916, along with an official certificate of entitlement meaning that Alfred was one of the first recipients.

Alfred left his job as Hospital Porter as his health continued to be a problem and instead took up the position of “School Attendance Officer”, although he remained at the Isolation Hospital where Emma was still “Matron”. He had not been doing this job for very long when in March 1919 he contracted “Spanish Flu”, the virulent strain of influenza which had been sweeping the world for over a year. He developed pneumonia complicated by endocan sepsis which caused a painful and lingering death for poor Alfred.

He died at his home in the Isolation Hospital on Wednesday, 26th March 1919.

His funeral took place five days later at Heath Lane Cemetery in Hemel Hempstead on Monday, 31st March 1919. An extensive obituary was published in the Gazette following his interment, which included a special message of condolence form Brigadier General Robert White, late Commander of the 10th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, Alfred’s old regiment. It also described Alfred and Emma’s work in setting up the Isolation Hospital at Bennett’s End. Alfred’s son, Alfred Jnr., also served in the Great War with the Army Service Corps, despite having lost the sight in one eye as a child. He survived the Conflict.

Alfred was commemorated on the Leverstock Green village War Memorial. On the Hemel Hempstead War Memorial Alfred is incorrectly recorded as “C. H. CHISMAN”

Alfred is Remembered with Honour in the Hemel Hempstead (Heath Lane) Cemetery, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, where he is interred in Grave LA. 38.

He was 50 years old when he died, and the oldest soldier recorded on the Hemel Hempstead War Memorial.

Alfred is entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.