Alfred Charles Sambrook was born in Limehouse East London in 1894 and was a regular soldier being posted to the 1st Battalion of Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry. Service Number 9831.

On the 14th August 1914 he set sail from Dublin to arrive at Le Havre on morning of the 15th August.

Alfred fired the 1st shot by the Duke of Cornwalls in the Great War and this is believed to be the 1st shot fired by an infantry man in WW1. Private Sambrook killed a German Officer in a place still referred to today as Sambrooks ditch. This took place in a defensive position at the Mons-Conde canal. This German helmet is on display at the DCLI museum in Bodmin, Cornwall.

He survived the battle of Mons and the battle of the Marne, however, Alfred was killed in Action on 14th September 1914 at Missy sur Aisne and no one ever found his body. He is commemorated on the 1914 monument at La Ferte sous Jouarre, 35km East of Paris.

Michael Sambrook