Styles, AC

Lieutenant Alfred Cornwall Styles

Alfred was born in Bodmin, Cornwall on April 11^th 1890, the second son, and sixth child, of an army officer, George Styles, and his wife, Mary. He spent his early years at St. Peter’s School in Exmouth before coming to Dulwich in 1903 at the same time as his elder brother, William, and his younger brother, Arthur. Alfred left the College in the summer of 1905 and went on to work for the Marconi Company as an engineer, as well as signing up as a reservist in the Royal Field Artillery. His work with Marconi took him all over the world, indeed 1914 alone saw him start the year in Argentina, then sail back to England before shortly afterwards setting out for New Zealand.

Alfred was still in New Zealand when the war was declared, although he did return to England as soon as he was able to upon hearing the news. Upon his arrival in January 1915 he was granted a commission in the Cheshire Regiment and a month later was promoted to Lieutenant. Towards the end of that year he was sent over to the front and spent the winter serving on the front line. In the summer of 1916, shortly after Alfred had been made Signalling Officer for the battalion, they were assigned to the Somme. On July 19^th he was resting in the Trones Wood with a cat asleep on his chest when he was killed by the shrapnel from a shell blast; the cat however escaped unharmed and became a regimental mascot. His younger brother, Arthur, died just a week later, in hospital in London, after a wound he received on the Somme became infected.