Pte Albert Charles Keningale

Albert was born in Brentwood in 1895. His parents were George and Eliza Keningale, who had moved to Brentwood to start a family in the 1880s, where they ran a shoe shop.

After his father died in 1909, Albert along with five of his six his siblings remained living at home with his mother. He worked as a newsagents's assistant.

He joined up at the very start of the first world war and left for France with the BEF on 15th August 1914. He was at the battle of Mons where the British were defeated and forced to retreat, and on 26th August Albert was part of the battle of Le Cateau. This was a battle to delay the German army who were rapidly persuing the British forces. The battle itself was a complete failure for the British, with the Germans using artillery to blindly fire into the British infantry and artillery.

Around 1,200 British troops were killed, with thousands more wounded or captured. Among the dead was Albert. He is commemorated on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial and the Brentwood war memorial.