No. 20610, Private, Alfred Albert HICKS
Aged 22
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Born on 7th February 1893 in Hockwold (Thetford Q1-1893 4B:384a), 2nd son, one of 12 children of Arthur and Caroline Helen HICKS (née BROWN).
Baptised Feltwell on 10th September 1893.
1901 census... Aged 8, Alfred was at 2 White Dyke Cottages, Hockwold with his father, Arthur HICKS [36] an agricultural labourer; mother Caroline [35]; brother Ernest [13] a helper on farm; sisters Lily [12], Edith [11] and Florence [9]; brothers Sidney [6] and Anthony [4] and sister Beatrice [11 months]. They were all born in Hockwold. 1911 census... Aged 18, now Albert, he was at Brewers Farm, Brewers Fen, Hockwold as a farm labourer with the Batch family. His parents and several of his siblings were still at White Dyke Cottages. All his siblings had survived thus far. On the pension card his parents had moved to Stones Granges, Wimblington, nr March. Also lost with him on the "Royal Edward" was Robert Allsop of Lakenheath, another man transferred from the Norfolks, to the Essex Regiment see here |
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Enlisted in Norwich. He was not awarded the Victory Medal by virtue of having not completed 28 days in a war zone. The 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment sailed from Avonmouth on 21st March 1915 for Gallipoli, going via Egypt and Mudros. Landed at Cape Helles 25 April 1915. Some explanation for Gaston's death comes from http://www.paulinedodd.com/from-norfolk-to-gallipoli.html Another great source for this incident is here http://royaledward.net "These men volunteered to join the Essex Regiment and appear to have constituted the drafts of June 23 and July 24 1915. They were part of the reinforcements carried by the transport "Royal Edward" which was torpedoed and sunk in the Aegean Sea on August 14th 1915. She sank two and a half minutes after the torpedo struck her. Of the 1,400 men she carried just over 600 were saved, and the drowned included all but 18 of the 300 Norfolk men." Albert Hick's name is on the list of those Essex Regiment men missing from the Royal Edward, published in The Times on 6th September 1915. On the morning of 13 August, HMTS Royal Edward passed HMHS Soudan, heading in the opposite direction. Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg in German submarine UB-14 was lying near the island of Kandeloussa and saw both ships. He allowed Soudan to pass unmolested, and instead concentrated on the unescorted Royal Edward, 6 nautical miles (11 km) off Kandeloussa. A single torpedo was enough to sink the Royal Edward, who just had time to send out an SOS signal. The Soudan picked up the signal and reversed course and managed to save just over 400. UB-14 was a coastal torpedo attack boat, carrying just two torpedoes. She sank 6 ships to a total of 25,500 tons and was scuttled near Sebastapol in 1919. Her captain went on to be a Vizeadmiral in 1942, At the end of WWII Soviet forces abducted Heino von Heimburg, then a 55-year-old retired naval officer and transported him to a POW camp near Stalingrad. He died there in October 1945. |
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