Photograph of Alexander in Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre. Reference: MR3/20/51

(L to R) 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; 1939-45 Defence Medal; 1939-45 War Medal

Alexander was born in around September 1910 in Manchester. His father was called Francis and his mother was Hannah. He had at least one sibling, an older sister named Eileen Nora.

In 1911 Francis worked as a Railway Guide Compiler. The family lived with Hannah's mother Elizabeth Hodgkinson at 13 Fenny Street in Higher Broughton, Salford. We don't know anything about what job Alexander had once he grew up.

The Second World War broke out in September 1939. Alexander joined the Army at some point and was assessed as suitable for officer training. He trained at the 170th Officer Cadet Training Unit in York and was commissioned into the Manchester Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on the 15th June 1940. He married Elizabeth T. Donaldson between January and March 1941 in Salford. We don't know whether they had any children.

We don't know anything about Alexander's war. He was on a troopship bound for Singapore and the 1st Battalion of the Manchester Regiment when news was received of the fall of the island on the 15th February 1942. The ship was diverted to India where Alexander was posted to the 4th Bombay Grenadiers. He saw active service with them during the Burma Campaign.

After the war Alexander kept in contact with his former comrades. In 1949 he was not able to attend the reunion, but asked that his best wishes should be given to his friends in the 5th Battalion. He served with them in Malta, where this photograph was taken, between November 1945 and November 1946.

The rest of his life remains a mystery.