ALBERT HENRY GORT

July 2026 – Are you a descendant of one of Albert’s sisters?

If so, we would love to hear from you – ipswichwarmemorial@gmail.com

Albert is remembered on the war memorial at Northgate High School. Formerly Ipswich Grammar School for Boys.

Bertie

Born: 30th January 1890, Walton, Suffolk.

Baptised on the 19th June 1895, at St. John the Baptist Church, Felixstowe, Suffolk – family home at 1, Princes Road, Walton.

Died: 5th November 1918; age: 28; died of pneumonia following influenza, at the Eastern Command Hospital, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

Residence: 1, Princes Road, Walton.

Occupation: Loco and electrical engineer on the Metropolitan Railway.

Date of Entry Therein: 8th October 1915 – Egypt.

In 1915, whilst serving in the  Dardanelles, Albert contracted illness and was invalided home to England.

Commissioned – Second Lieutenant – 14th April 1917 – gazetted to the Northamptonshire Regiment.

Albert was placed on anti-aircraft service at Sheerness, after which he was sent to various stations to learn the working of prisoners of war camps. He proved himself highly efficient in this particular branch, and at New Street Farm, Standon, in Hertfordshire, an agricultural labour camp, he was appointed commandant.

Rank: Second Lieutenant.

Regiment: Royal Defence Corps.

Formerly Suffolk Yeomanry (The Duke of York’s Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars), Private, 1621 and Corps of Hussars, Private, 305047.

Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star.

Funeral service held at St. John’s Parish Church, on Saturday, 9th November, at 11 o’clock.

Grave Reference:

St. Peter & St. Paul Churchyard,

Felixstowe,

Suffolk.

CENSUS

1891   1, Princes Road, Walton, Suffolk.

Albert was a year old and living with his parents, sisters and paternal aunt.

Henry Gort, 28, a Job Master – Livery – employer, born Trimley St. Martin, Suffolk.

Julia Anne Gort (nee Harrison), 28, born Aldershot, Hampshire.

Florence Daisy Gort, 4, born Walton.

Ethel May Gort, 3, born Walton.

Jessie Gort, 15, born Trimley St. Martin.

1901   1, Princes Road, Walton, Suffolk.

Albert was 10 years old and living with his parents & sisters.

Henry, 39, a Job Master – own account.

Julia, 40.

Florence, 14.

Ethel, 13.

Lucy Phillis Gort, 9, born Walton.

Gertrude Louisa Gort, 8, born Walton.

Lilian Emily Gort, 7, born Walton.

Rosa Dorothy Gort, 5, born Walton.

Elsie Violet Gort, 4, born Walton.

1911   1, Princes Road, Walton, Suffolk.

Albert was 21 years old and assisted in his father’s business at home. He was living with his parents & sisters.

Henry, 49, a Carting Contractor – employer – at home.

Julia, 50.

Gertie, 18.

Lily, 17.

Rosa, 15.

Elsie, 14.

Grace Vera Gort, 9, born Walton.

Albert was educated at Ipswich Grammar School for Boys, entered in 1897 – left at Christmas 1905.

Albert served his Engineering Apprenticeship – machine and bench work and erecting shop work, from the age of 16, at the Locomotive Department, Metropolitan Railway, Neasden Works, Neasden, N.W. He served 2 years & 4 months – 2nd April 1906 – 2nd April 1909.

Residence: 20, Vicarage Villas, Neasden Lane, Neasden.

Technical Education:- Regent Street Polytechnic – 1906 – 1907, Engineering (Mechanical) Course, Mechanics (Applied), Machine Construction and Drawing, and I Geom., Drawing, Applied Mathematics II; 1907 – 1908, Machine Construction II, Electrical Engineering II, Applied Mathematics II: First Class Polytechnic Certificates; Machine Construction, Mechanics and Geometrical Drawing; Second Class Certificates; Board of Education, Practical Mathematics II, Machine Construction.

Albert’s medals were sent to his father, Henry Gort, of 1, Princes Road, Walton, Suffolk.

During the war, Albert’s father, Henry Gort, had a very kind spot in his heart for the soldiers leaving Felixstowe en route for the battlefields, and he provided them with cigarettes and other good things with a liberality that knew no bounds. If ever a man lived up to the saying “it is better to give than to receive,” it was Mr. Harry Gort.

Probate to Henry Gort – contractor.

Soldiers’ Effects to Henry Gort Esq. – father.

Albert is also remembered on the war memorial at Felixstowe seafront.

E.A.D.T. – Monday, 11^th November 1918 – FUNERAL OF LIEUTENANT ALBERT H. GORT AT FELIXSTOWE – The funeral of Lieutenant Albert Henry Gort, of the Northamptonshire Regiment, who died on Tuesday at the South-Eastern Command Hospital, Cambridge, of pneumonia following influenza, took place at Felixstowe on Saturday. The deceased officer was the only son of Mr. Henry Gort and Mrs. Julia Anne Gort, of Felixstowe, and went out to the Dardanelles in 1915. While there, he contracted an illness and was invalided home to England. He gained his commission early in 1917 and was gazetted to the Northamptonshire Regiment. He was placed on anti-aircraft service at Sheerness, after which he was sent to various stations to learn the working of prisoners of war camps. He proved himself highly efficient in this particular branch, and at Standon, in Hertfordshire, he was appointed commandant. Lieutenant Henry Gort was born at Felixstowe twenty-eight years ago. Prior to the outbreak of war, he was a loco and electrical engineer on the Metropolitan Railway, and had a promising career before him. Henry was unmarried.

The service was held at St. John’s Church, where the coffin had been deposited the night before on arrival from Cambridge. The officiating clergyman was the Vicar, the Reverend A. E. Stantial. The deceased officer was buried with full military honours, the coffin, covered with the Union Jack, on which were laid his cap, belt, and gloves, being borne on a gun-carriage, supplied by the A.S.C., by permission of Major Fossett, the officer commanding, under Sergeant-Major Ashford, to the grave at Old Felixstowe Church. The cortege was headed by a firing party of the Norfolks, after which came the band of the same regiment, who played the “Dead March” in “Saul”; as they played, they passed through the town. Lieutenants H. T. Dewdney, G. A. P. Lark, E. C. Prattley, and C. C. Dawkins, of the Norfolk Regiment, acted as bearers.