Alfred Francis Winslow traveled aboard a Cunnard Line ship from Queensland, Australia to London and disembarked on 2 November 1914, with the intention of joining the British Army. His brother, Daniel Frederick Winslow was already serving as a private in the 2nd East Lancashire Regiment. Alfred Francis Winslow enlisted with the Royal Field Artillery on 12 November 1914 and his army records show that he enlisted at Shepherds Bush, London and was aged 19 years. This agrees with his birth certificate which states that he was born in Paddington, London on 3 May 1894. My father never talked about the time that he spent serving as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) but what I learnt eventually from the eldest of my two elder brothers was that my father knew of Frome in Somerset (where we lived as a family) from his early days in the RFA. This knowledge led me to some research where I discovered that the Somerset Standard, which was published every week, and was the official newspaper for Frome and the surrounding villages, had published a series of articles from November 1914 through to April 1915 giving details of the 25th Division of the RFA during the period in question, of it's commanding officer H A Bethell, together with some other officers, and numerous stories of Frome as a military town up until the departure of the 25th Division on 23 April 1915. These articles also mentioned the various entertainments that were organised each week for the officers and troops. It is also known that Alfred Francis Winslow was in London during the 1911 census with his mother Elizabeth, named as the head of the household, together with his sister, Martha. In this entry Alfred is identified as Francis Alfred Winslow, and his mother, Elizabeth Winslow was later on, known to be living in Queensland, Australia in 1914 and up to her subsequent death in 1918. This information is to be found in Alfred's service record.
The earliest photo of my father