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Alexander Icely Drysdale
15/05/1881 - 28/07/1916
Source: Dulwich College
Other Memorials: Shortlands War Memorial, Beckenham War Memorial
Place of birth: Bournemouth, Hampshire
Last known address in Bromley: 2 Kingswood Road
Last known address in Bromley: 2 Kingswood Road
Military information
Regiment/Service: Royal Field ArtilleryBattalion/Ship: "A"Bty 87th Bde
Rank: Major
Number: Unknown
Family information
Parents: Alexander Tovey & Louisa Bartlett Drysdale (nee Icely)Parents' occupation: Indian Civil Service
Siblings: Kenneth Ballantyne, Mary Louisa, Hamilton Dunbar
Relatives on War Memorial: DRYSDALE, H.D.
Census information
1891Address: 53 Bromley Road, Beckenham
Extra details
Alec was the eldest of Alexander and Louisa Drysdale's four children. He attended Dulwich College from 1894 to 1896, transferring to Messrs Wolfram & Reedham's at Blackheath.
In April 1899 he took a militia position in the Kent Artillery, and the following year he transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery, with whom he subsequently went out to South Africa to fight in the Boer War, during which period he was promoted to Lieutenant. At the end of the war he was at Simonstown naval base for some time and from there went on with his battery to Mauritius. In 1906 he was appointed A.D.C. and Private Secretary to Sir Cavendish Boyle the governor of Mauritius and remained with him for 4 years. Following this he spent a period serving in Gibraltar, during which time he was promoted to Captain, then in 1912 returned to England in order to serve as Adjutant of the Ordnance College, Woolwich.
When war was declared in 1914 Alec was transferred to the port of Berehaven, in Ireland, where he was in charge of the artillery defences. In early 1915 however he was tasked with raising "A" Battery, 87th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, and was in command of that unit when he transferred to France for the first time in July. In October of that year he was promoted once more, this time to the rank of Major. He was involved in a reconnaissance mission near Delville Wood on the Somme in late July 1916 when he was declared "missing", and is believed to have been killed on July 28th.
His brother Hamilton was also killed and his other brother Kenneth died of fever whilst serving in the Navy in 1899.
Thank you to Dulwich College for their assistance.
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