"Killed Shell"

In the front line trenches which ran through the village of St. Jean, a shell landed on the front line dugout of 'C' Company, 9th Suffolk killing 2nd Lieutenant Alexander Williamson, and severely wounding 2nd Lieutenant Kelsey and the two signallers who were sitting in the doorway.
​It brought to an end, a relatively quiet four day period in the front line. The Battalion had since New Year been averaging four days 'on' and four days 'off' and in the last period, only one man had been killed and one wounded, it seemed that it was quietening down since the massive shrapnel and gas attacks of December, but many were beginning to realise that quiet periods, were never really that quiet.
Born 1889 in Liverpool, Alexander Williamson, became an Assistant Elementary School Teacher in 1907, and lived with his parents, Alfred and Jane Williamson at 9 Norwich Rd, Wavertree, on the outskirts of the city. He had joined the Battalion in January 1915 and was one of the original officers who crossed with it to France in August. He was 27 when he died.

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