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3761 (554371) Sapper
ALBERT BOOTLE
Royal Engineers 

By 

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

Figure 1. 554371 Sapper Albert Bootle, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum) 

1. INTRODUCTION

Albert Bootle was born in Bethnal Green, London on 22 July 1886.  He was the son of Thomas Bootle (1842-1903), a cabinet maker, and Mary Ann Bootle, née Dorman (1846-1907) a dress maker.[1]  Between the date of his birth and the date of his marriage in 1911, Albert moved with his family to three different home in Bethnal Green; 11 Park Street (1891), 105 Pritchard Row (1901) and 40 Russia Lane (1911).[2]

As a young man, Albert followed the trade of his father as a cabinet maker.[3]  On 29 July 1911 he married Elizabeth Alice (Peggy) Rowe, a spinster, at St. John’s Church in Bethnal Green.[4]  The couple moved into a residence at 9 Morpeth Road in South Hackney, London after their marriage.

Figure 2.  St. John’s Church, Bethnal Green, London (c. 2026)
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

2.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING 

Enlistment

Albert Bootle attested for service in the Royal Engineers Territorial Force (T.F.) on 8 December 1915.  His Short Service Attestation Paper (Army Form B. 2512) shows that he was 29 years old and married at the time and was living at the South Hackney address shown above.  He indicated that he was a Carpenter (Cabinet Maker) by trade and that he had no prior naval or military service.  He indicated that he was willing to be vaccinated and willing to enlist for General Service. 

At the time of his attestation he was given a preliminary medical examination.  This examination describe him as follows: 

Training 

On the day following his attestation, Bootle was posted to the Army Reserve as 3761 Sapper Albert Bootle in the 1^st London Reserve Field Company.[6]  It must be assumed that while serving in an Army Reserve unit he received basic training as an engineer soldier.  His papers do not show, specifically, where or when he might have received this training.

3.  POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Sapper Bootle was mobilized for active service on 30 March 1916.  He received another medical examination at Stratford in London which, in addition to the results indicated above, his weight was noted to be 116 pounds and his physical development was rated as “Good.”  As he had been vaccinated in infancy there was no requirement for him to be re-vaccinated.  His eyesight was shown to be: Right Eye 6/12, Left Eye 6/18.[7]  A reading of 6/6 is considered to be normal, so Bootle’s eyesight appears to have required some correction.

On 3 April 1916 Sapper Bootle’s attestation was approved at the Administrative Centre of the 1^st London Divisional Engineers at 10 Victoria Park Square, Bethnal Green, London N.E.  He was posted to the 3/1^st (London) Field Company, R.E., T.F., but he remained on home service for a year.  On 1 April 1917 Bootle was posted to France where he initially joined the Royal Engineers Base Depot, probably at Rouen.  His Regimental Number at this time was changed from 3761, his Territorial Force number, to 554371, his number in the New Army force.  He joined the 2^nd Reinforcement Company on 6 May 1917 and then was posted to what appears to be either the 212^th Company or the 272^nd Company, R.E. on 20 May 1917.  This entry in his service records is very difficult to read due to the water damage it suffered during WW2.  It is possible that the company number is 212.  The General Staff, G.H.Q. Order of Battle published on 11 November 1918 does not show a company of the Royal Engineers numbered 272, but it does show a 212^th Field Company in the 33^rd Division.

Sapper Bootle was wounded in action on 20 September 1917.  If he was serving in the 212^th Field Company, then he had taken part in the Battle of Menin Road (20-25 September 1917) when he was wounded.  On 29 September, while his company was engaged in the Battle of Polygon Wood (26 September – 3 October 1917) he was evacuated to England, probably to hospital for further treatment or convalescence.  While in England he was posted to the 5^th Reserve Battalion, R.E. at Christchurch.

Bootle returned to the Royal Engineers Base Depot on 30 March 1918 and on 8 April he was posted to the 90^th Field Company in the 9^th (Scottish) Division.  This company was involved in the following major actions after Bootle’s posting to the unit.[8]  Men of the company who were either killed in action or died of wounds are listed chronologically.[9]

· Battle of Messines, 10-11 April 1918.

┼ 46177 Corporal Walter Ware (12 April 1918), probably died of wounds received at the Battle of Messines.

· Battle of Bailleul, 13-15 April 1918.

· First Battle of Kemmel, 17-19 April 1918.

┼  46174 2^nd Corporal M.C. Dowding, MID (22 April 1918), probably died of wounds received at the First Battle of Kemmel.

· Second Battle of Kemmel, 25-26 April 1918.

┼  159175 Sapper John Thomas Buckler (25 April 1918).

┼  536238 Sapper Reginald Peacock (25 April 1918).

┼  140460 Sapper Herbert Pickup (25 April 1918).

┼  92183 Shoeing Smith John Dobson (26 April 1918).

· Battle of Scherpenberg, 29 April 1918.

Following the battles listed above, the 90^th Field Company continued to suffer losses as shown below, probably due to artillery or sniper fire. 

┼  61256 Driver Joseph Shiell (2 May 1918).

┼  645718 Sapper Sidney H. Simmonds (12 May 1918).

After living through the bloody battles of April 1918, Sapper Bootle was killed in action in Belgium on 19 July 1918.  His unit was near Ypres at the time.  He is memorialized on the Tyne Cot Memorial in the Ypres salient.  His wife was notified of his death by letter from the R.E. Records Office at Chatham. 

Figure 3.  Death Notification for 554371 Sapper Albert Bootle, R.E.
(Image from Bootle’s service papers) 

4. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

For his service during the Great War Albert Bootle was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Figure 4.  The British War Medal and Victory Medal.
(Image from the author’s collection) 

NOTE: The medals shown in Figure 4 above are not those of Sapper Bootle.  The image is included here for illustrative purposes only. 

Figure 5.  Great War Medal Index Card of Sapper Albert Bootle.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com) 

Figure 6.  554371 Sapper Albert Bootle, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

After being notified of her husband’s death, Elizabeth Alice Bootle wrote a touching poem in his memory.

A Memory 

So this is the end they tell me?

And I shall see no more?

Your dear kind face and feel your arms

Around me as before?

Can it really be true dear,

That you’ll never speak again?

Or come back here to the home you loved,

Our home you prepared in vain?

But they tell me you’re peacefully sleeping?

And your Battle with life is done,

May God Bless you dear; my greatest friend,

And a Mothers noble son.

As time goes by and the World below

Has no work for me to do,

I’ll pray to Him who reigns above,

To give me Heaven ----- and you.

4^th Aug.
E.A.B. 1918

REFERENCES 

Books 

GENERAL STAFF, G.H.Q.  Order of Battle of the British Armies in France (Including Lines of Communication Units), November 11^th, 1918. 

Census 

1.      1891 Census of England (RG 12/270).

2.      1901 Census of England (RG 13/279).

3.      1911 Census of England and Wales.

Civil Documents 

1.      Poem by Elizabeth Alice Bootle to Commemorate Her Husband’s Death.

2.      Commonwealth War Graves Memorial.

Family Tree 

Family Tree (by Sally Cooper) 

Internet Web Sites 

Wikipedia: 1^st London Field Company, Royal Engineers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_London_Field_Company_Royal_Engineers 

Military Documents 

1.      Medal Index Card.

2.      Royal Engineers Medal Roll: British War Medal and Victory Medal.

3.      Casualty Notification (Army Form B. 104-82).

Periodicals  

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

Service Papers 

1.      Short Service Attestation (Army Form B. 2512).

2.      Descriptive Report on Enlistment.

3.      Statement of Service.

4.      Statement of the Names and Addresses of Relatives

5.      Medical History (Army Form B. 178).

6.      Casualty Form – Active Service (Army Form B. 103).

 ENDNOTES