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49124 Sapper
ALBERT HUGHES GRIFFIN
Royal Engineers 

By 

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, BSAE, P.E., MinstRE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(July 2026) 

 

Figure 1. 49124 Sapper Albert Hughes Griffin, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum) 

    1. INTRODUCTION

Albert Hughes Griffin was born in Chalford, Gloucestershire in 1890.  He was the son of Edwin Hughes Griffin (1860-1935), a mounter of umbrella handles and metal moulder, and Jane Harriet Griffin, née Hook (1859-1920).[1]  The Griffin family resided at Chalford Hill in Bisley, Gloucestershire in 1891, at Cope’s Hill, Chalford in 1901 and at Marle Hill, Chalford in 1911.[2]  In 1911 Albert worked as a cabinet maker.

As a young man Albert was a primary school teacher in the Baptist Sunday School in Chalford under the supervision of his father Edwin, who was Superintendent at the school.  Albert left the school when he moved to Bath in 1913. An active temperance worker, he was also a member of the Mutual Improvement Society, a society devoted to forging working-class political consciousness in nineteenth-century England. He loved debates, in which he expressed his opinions clearly and plainly. When he joined the forces he was greatly missed by the community.[3] 

2.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING

Enlistment

Albert Griffin enlisted in the Royal Engineers at Bath, Somerset, at the end of August 1914.  His early enlistment soon after the declaration of war with Germany was prompted by a feeling of duty toward the coming generation; that is, a desire to keep the world free from tyranny for his children if he ever had any.[4]         As an unmarried man he had no obligation for a wife or children when he joined the forces. 

Training 

Following a period of training 49124 Sapper Albert Hughes Griffin, R.E. was posted to the 124th Field Company in the 38th (Welsh) Division.  While with the company he underwent training in field engineering and other skills required by a Sapper as well as the basic skills required by a soldier.

The 124th Field Company was formed at Porthcawl, a town and community in the Bridgend County of Wales, located on the south coast, 25 miles west of Cardiff and 19 miles southeast of Swansea.  On 27 January 1915 the company moved to Abergavenny and in April 1915 it was at Winchester in Hampshire.  In addition to Griffin’s company, the 38th Division’s other engineer units included the 123rd Field Company, the 151st Field Company and the 38th Divisional Signal Company.  Additional engineering support for the division was provided by its pioneer battalion, the 19th (Service) Battalion (Glamorgan Pioneers).[5]

3.  POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

The 38th Division was formed from many volunteer units that had already been raised by public subscription and private projects in Wales and England. It moved to France between 21 November and 6 December 1915.[6]  Griffin, however, deployed to France on 31 May 1915.[7]  Apparently he must have been a member of an advanced party that went to France to prepare for the arrival of the division’s main force.  It was not unusual for divisional engineer units to precede their divisions infantry brigades and artillery in order to prepare camps prior to the arrival of the majority of the division.

The 38th Division was heavily engaged in major battles on the Western Front throughout the Great War of 1914-1918.  Its first major engagement was in the Battle of Albert (1-13 July 1916), a phase of the Battles of the Somme. The division was used to assault and clear Mametz Wood.[8] It suffered severe casualties and did not return to major action until over a year later.  Fatal casualties suffered by the 124th Field Company included:[9]

┼  108050 Driver William Jones, died of wounds on 9 July 1916.

┼  62872 Lance Corporal David John Morgan, killed in action on 10 July 1916.

┼  108165 Sapper Charles Johns, killed in action on 10 July 1916.

┼  62650 Sergeant Horace Frank Anderson, killed in action on 11 July 1916.

┼  108046 Corporal John M. Davies, killed in action on 11 July 1916.

┼  103636 Lance Corporal Peter Lowe Currie, killed in action on 11 July 1916.

┼  62808 Sapper Henry Cox, killed in action on 11 July 1916.

┼  62820 Sapper Thomas John Harris, killed in action on 11 July 1916.

┼  108179 Sapper J. Tamplin, killed in action on 11 July 1916.

┼  92564 Sapper John Treharne, died of wounds on 14 July 1916.

┼  Temporary 2nd Lieutenant Henry Maguire, died of wounds on 15 July 1916.

As the number of wounded in action could be about three times the number of killed in action during the Great War, one could assume that overall losses in the company might have been between 40 and 50, or about 20 percent of the total authorized company strength.  The 38th Division had suffered about 4,000 casualties during the attack on Mametz.[10]   

In the summer of 1917 Sapper Griffin was involved in a serious accident when he was struck by an automobile in France.  His injuries required a period of recuperation in England because of this incident.[11]   

The next major action in which Griffin’s company was involved was the Battle of Pilckem (31 July – 2 August 1917).  No information could be found regarding the length of Griffen’s absence from his unit due to the accident described above, so it is not known whether he had returned to duty and was present at Pilckem.  The company’s fatalities from the Battle of Pilckem included:

┼  442414 Sapper Benjamin James Gee, killed in action on 31 July 1917.

┼  450450 Sapper Harry Alexander Meik, killed in action on 31 July 1917.

┼  82353 Sapper John Ephraim Williams, killed in action on 31 July 1917.

┼  108176 Sapper Christopher Jones, killed in action on 31 July 1917.

┼  166653 Sapper John McLeod, killed in action on 31 July 1917.

┼  82388 Driver Hugh Clucas, died of wounds on 31 July 1917.

After Pilckem, things became relatively quiet for the 124th Field Company.  The company took part in the Battle of Langemarck from 16-18 August 1917, but casualties were relatively light and no fatalities were suffered by the company.

In the spring of 1918 Griffen was commended for carrying no fewer than five wounded men off the field on his back under fire. The incident referred to took place when he was in the trenches one morning at 3 am carrying dispatches. He was wounded while performing this heroic action and after treatment for his wound he recuperated at two or three hospitals and the regimental depot, before returning to the conflict in France in March 1918.[12]  No information could be found for Griffin receiving an award for his heroic action.  It appears that he was not even mentioned in despatches for saving the wounded men.

Following Langemarck, Sapper Griffin was granted leave in the U.K. and he used this leave to marry Gertrude Mary Smith in Bath, Somerset.

Figure 2.  The Wedding of Albert Hughes Griffin and Gertrude Mary Smith.
(Image courtesy of  Ancestry.com and Merlin Ambrosius) 

Following his wedding Sapper Griffin returned to his company in time to take part in the Second Battle of Albert (21-23 August 1918, which cost the company three more killed in action. 

┼  82519 Acting Sergeant James Imrie (23 August 1918)

┼  62661 Sapper Frederick William Corin (23 August 1918)

┼  146547 Sapper H. Moutrey (23 August 1918) 

Five days later, on 28 August 1918 while the 124th Field Company was preparing for the Battle of Bapaume, Sapper Griffin was killed in action.  He was buried at Longueval in the Department of the Somme.





 

Figure 3.  The Cemetery Headstone of Sapper Griffin.
(Image courtesy of Find a Grave)

 



4. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

For his service during the Great War of 1914-1918 Sapper Griffin was posthumously awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Figure 4.  The 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal
(Image from the author’s collection) 

NOTE: The medals shown above are not those of Sapper Griffin.  They are presented here for illustrative purposes only. 

Figure 5.  The Medal Index Card of Sapper Griffin.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

REFERENCES 

Books  

MUNBY, J.E. (ed.).  A History of the 38th (Welsh) Division.  Hugh Rees, Ltd., London, 1920. 

Census 

1.      1891 Census of England (RG 12/2023).

2.      1901 Census of England (RG 13/2437).

3.      1911 Census of England and Wales.

 

Civil Documents 

Commonwealth War Graves Memorial. 

Family Tree 

Family Tree (by Merlin Ambrosius). 

Internet Web Sites 

1.      Wikipedia: Porthcawl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porthcawl

2.      The Long, Long Trail: 38th (Welsh) Division.
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/38th-welsh-division/

3.      Wikipedia: Capture of Mametz.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Mametz

Military Documents 

Medal Index Card. 

Periodicals  

1.      Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, The Royal Engineers Journal, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932.

2.      Stroud News, 22 June 1917 and 12 October 1917.

ENDNOTES

[1] Griffin family tree by Merlin Ambrosius.

[2] Census of England for each of these years.

[3] A reference cited in the Imperial War Museum notes which accompanied his photograph.

[4] Imperial War Museum notes.

[5] The Long, Long Trail: 38th (Welsh) Division.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Medal Index Card.

[8] The Long, Long Trail.

[9] Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

[10] Wikipedia: Capture of Mametz.

[11] Stroud News.

[12] A reference cited in the Imperial War Museum notes which accompanied his photograph.