Hugh Francis Alston was born in Clacton in 1899 to Hugh, a draper, and Elizabeth Alston. To differentiate between father and son, Hugh Jr. was known as Frank. The family moved from Clacton, to Stoke Newington, to Woodford, where they lived at The Rosary, Churchfields, Woodford by 1911.
Hugh Francis had one younger brother, John, who was born in 1901, and therefore too young to take part in the war. Hugh enlisted in Stratford with the 5th Battalion City of London Rifle Brigade. He was sent to the Western Front but was killed in action in the second battle of the Somme on 28th March 1918, the day after his 19th birthday. At the time of his death, he was a Lance Corporal. Hugh’s name is recorded on the Arras Memorial in France.
Research by Redbridge Museum
Sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com