Side view
Front view
This headstone was difficult to transcribe due to weathering making the inscription in part eligible.
Front inscription:
Sacred to the Memory / Of /
Harriet ?? ?? /
Also of / Her husband / Alfred Edward Flaxman M.A/ Rector of Wombwell ?? /
Born October 2? ???? / Died October ? ???? /
Side inscription:
Their elder son / 2nd Lieut Alfred Edward / Flaxman /
Amateur champion Hammer / Thrower & Pole(?) Jumper /
Born October 1st 1879 / Killed in action July 1st 1916 /
and whose grave is not known / Loving and beloved.
Headstone Location:
Con 11, 1204,
Wombwell Cemetery
Alfred Flaxman however is not interred within this grave. His body was never recovered from the battlefield and his last known resting place remains unknown.
Other Memorials that commemorate A E Flaxman include:
Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face 7B, France
 |
Alfred Edward Flaxman
Photograph from the Hexham Courant 10th Jan 2011 |
Other Information:
Alfred competed in the 1908 Olympic games. Taking part in the Greek discus, Freestyle javelin, Pole vault and Standing high jump. Unfortunately his final ranking in these events is unknown. Alfred however proved himself an excellent amateur athlete in other competitions he entered. He competed in the AAA Hammer throw from 1905 -1914 and won the championship in 1910. He won the AAA Pole Vault in 1909. He was three times runner up in the English discus throwing championship. As well as being an athlete he was also a student of music.
Alfred Ernest was born in Wombwell on 1st October 1879. He was baptised on 28th November 1879. Alfred's mother was named Harriet Jecks Flaxman. Though Alfred was to have little memory of her as she died before his second birthday. Her death came in the Autumn of 1880, shortly after the birth of Alfred's younger brother and only sibling Samuel Christopher Reeve Flaxman. Alfred's father was born in 1850 at Great Ryhburgh, Norfolk. He was became rector of St Mary's Church, Wombwell in the 1870s. The family lived at 10 Summer Lane (The Rectory) along with three servants. One of whom, Mary Crookson would remain with Alfred's father until his death.
By 1901 the family were no longer living in Wombwell. Alfred's father had taken a new position as rector in Grundisburgh, Suffolk. His sons were away pursuing their respective careers. Alfred in athletics and Samuel in medicine. Both men would eventually settle in London. It seems the only tie to Wombwell that remained was their mother's grave. In 1911 Alfred was studying music in Marylebone, London While his father had retired to Bournemouth to live with his sister-in-law, (Alfred's Aunt Elizabeth Reeve.)
During WWI Alfred Flaxman served as Second Lieutenant with the 1/6th South Staffordshire regiment. He was commissioned on 18th June 1915. Once he arrived in France he was given command of battalion of bombers, where his athletic abilities and body building skills were put to good use. Once during a training exercise at the Bull Ring in Etaples, he managed to throw a grenade a full 75 yards. He was chosen to lead a battalion of bombers at the Somme. Unable to find away through their intended path his group got caught between the wires. They were shot down by enemy fire while exposed in the open. Alfred was killed in action on 1st July 1916, aged 36. His brother Captain Samuel Flaxman who was serving with the 1/2nd North Midland Field Ambulance searched for Alfred's body without success. His remains were never recovered and subsequently he is remembered on the Thiepval memorial, along with the other missing of the Somme.
His superior LT Col F A M Webster described A E Flaxman as:
"
A simple gentleman, the best of sportsmen and a very gallant soldier"
Learn more about A E Flaxman:
British Olympians - Alfred Flaxman
CWGC.org - Casualty
LFWW - Soldier Profile
The Great War Forum - 46th Division Officers
Wikepedia Entry
Books:
A Lack of Offensive Spirit?:
The 46th (North Midland) Division at Gommecourt, 1st July 1916
By Alan MacDonald
