Alfred Drew
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Son of George and Annie Drew of Kirkby In Ashfield, Husband of Vera Drew, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield. George's older brother, Albert, died in WW1. Pte in Royal Marines Light Infantry he died on 6th June 1916.
Alfred married Vera Green in 1944.
Enlisted as a civilian, joined as an aircrafthand after March 1938.
Nottingham Evening Post 16/12/1947:
He had left home at Kirkby in Ashfield on the 9th of December to cycle to the district office of an insurance company in Mansfield and had not been seen again until his body was found in Kent on the 15th of December. It was thought that he may have been going to visit Sir Knox Cunningham in Kent, who had taken an interest in him since the time they had both been patients at the same hospital.
(Sir Knox Cunningham was a lawyer and became a MP in the 1950's).
The Nottingham Journal 23/12/1947:
His body was found on the railway line at Chelsfield Kent, and the inquest at Orpington recorded that he took his own life.
He had served in the RAF from 1938 to 1943 and had undergone 10 operations for an injury at Midhurst Hospital. The jury heard that he was frightened of the injury returning, and recorded a verdict of suicide while the balance of his mind was disturbed.
Buried : Kingsway New Cemetery, Kirkby In Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
Grave Reference : Section A : Row : Z : Grave : 3117.
Personal Inscription reads : "Beloved Husband of Vera someday we will understand".
Commemorated on the Kirkby In Ashfield War Memorial, Kingsway, Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire as : Drew A. Royal Air Force.
Photo of Alfred Drew's Headstone
Photograph of Alfred Drew's Headstone in Kingsway Cemetery, Kirkby In Ashfield, Nottinghamshire by Gary Crosby on the 11th December 2021.