A Missing Denaby Man

Mrs Albert Ackroyd of 27 Rossington Street, Denaby has received the following letter through the Red Cross Society from Lance Cpl Butt, of the Grenadier Guards, and who is now lying in hospital in France, in order to an enquiry she made concerning her brother, private Albert Edward Timmins, Grenadier Guards, who has now been missing for several months.

“On October 8 the machine guns were all together. I was in the next transverse to where they were. We had to retire, and the Germans took the trenches. The gunners stuck it to the last and I saw them still there, as the Germans were pouring into the trenches. The guns had all been smashed by artillery. By that time the Germans were all rounder gunners, and they could not get away. I was bombing, and managed to get away.

I did not notice Timmins in particular. The only machine gunner I noticed was Sgt Oakes and I saw him killed.

Note: Although I have not seen the article which declares Albert Edward Timmins dead the lnk below is to the CWGC confirmation . He is not listed on the Denaby War Memorial .

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1770803