Person

Alfred Turner was a Bede scholar who served in both the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) and the Royal Engineers before joining the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). He was wounded during a training flight and discharged from the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1919.

Born in June 1894 in Sherburn, Durham, Alfred was the oldest of three children born to John and Sarah Anne Turner. John worked as a coke burner and married Sarah Anne Mcbriar in 1893. In August 1907 Alfred began studying at the local council school in Sherburn, three years later becoming a pupil teacher at the same school. Alfred then sought a career in teaching, beginning to study at St Bede’s college for headmasters in Durham in 1912.

Alfred first joined the DLI as a private with the service number 1980. He was part of the B Company of the 8th Battalion DLI, initially stationed in Gateshead. He disembarked in France on 21 April 1915. The June 1915 edition of the Bede College magazine lists Alfred as wounded, indicating he was not in France long before he was injured. It is not known what these injuries consisted of or how long Alfred needed to recover. At some point later, possibly in 1916, Alfred then joined the Royal Engineers with the service number 188184. Following time in the Royal Engineers, Alfred was then transferred to the RFC on 21 February 1918. The RFC joined with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the RAF on 1 April 1918 so Alfred became part of this at the point of the RAF’s formation.

Alfred spent time training at the School of Aeronautics at Denham aerodrome in Buckinghamshire before moving to the RAF station based at Uxbridge in London. He was then moved into the 44th Training squad at which point he became acting sergeant on 10 August 1918. Alfred continued his pilot training after the end of the First World War, being based at the 15th Training Depot at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. It was during this training that Alfred suffered serious injuries following an incident with his plane on 7 January 1919.

RAF records give us detailed information about Alfred’s accident. He was flying an Avro 504K plane, a biplane commonly used as a training airplane. His injuries included fractures of both his left arm and leg, and flesh wounds to his head and face. He was initially admitted to Bagthorpe hospital in Nottingham before being treated at Clipstone Hospital, also in Nottinghamshire. Alfred was finally discharged from the RAF on 26 November 1919.

The following year, Alfred married Mary J Haywood in Nottinghamshire. Following the war Alfred returned to his teaching career. In 1939 he was working as an assistant schoolmaster in Belford, Northumberland.

Civil Parish: Durham St. Giles

Birth date: 10-Jun-1894

Armed force/civilian: Air Force

Residence: Coxhoe Lane, Sherburn, Durham (1901 Census)
7 Hope Street, Sherburn, Durham (1911 Census)
25 Lafray Street, Westmorland Rd, Newcastle (Date of discharge 1919)
Belford, Northumberland (1939 Register)

Education: Sherburn Council School
Bede College 1912-1914

Religion: Church of England

Employment: Assistant Schoolmaster (Airmen Records)
Assistant Schoolmaster – Belton, Northumberland (1939 Register)

Family: Parents: John Turner, Sarah Anne Turner nee McBriar
Siblings: Sarah Turner, John Arnold Turner
Wife: Mary J Turner nee Haywood

Military service:

8th DLI
Private, Service Number 1980
Royal Engineers, service number 188184
RFC, then RAF
Trainee Pilot

Medal(s): Victory Medal
British War Medal
1915 Star

Gender: Male

Contributed by Fiona Johnson - Durham