Pte 200814 Alfred William Holdcroft served with the 1/5th North Staffordshire Regiment, deployed to the Gommecourt area of France during the Somme offensive –  one of the bloodiest battles of the war. On 1 July 1916, his battalion went over the top. Though Alfred survived the battlefield, he was grievously wounded in the chest, a wound which left him paraplegic. He was returned to the UK and whilst receiving treatment in the Star and Garter rehabilitation hospital he succumbed to his wounds and died on 1st November 1918. 
Alfred’s body was returned to his home town of Burslem where he was interned in Burslem cemetery. Through our research into the Royal Doulton Burslem Memorial we found Pte 200814 A.W. Holdcroft was not commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and therefore did not have a Commonwealth grave, for many years his grave lay unmarked. 

An application was made to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for an official commemoration in June 2025. In April 2026 we received an email saying that an adjudication from the military service authorities, regarding the Non-commemoration case submission for Private Alfred William Holdcroft had determined that he did not qualify for commemoration as a Commonwealth war casualty, in line with the Commission’s Eligibility Criteria. 

Immediately I resubmitted the evidence we had collated to be considered as a formal request for this case to be reconsidered.  
On June 18th 2026 I received an email that read; 

Thank you for your patience whilst we re-reviewed your Non-commemoration case submission for Private Alfred Holdcroft. 

I'm pleased to advise that, following your appeal and a re-review of the evidence, Private Holdcroft has been accepted for commemoration as a Commonwealth war casualty. He has now been added to our Casualty Database and you can view his casualty profile on our website: Private Alfred Holdcroft | War Casualty Details 75486645 | CWGC.

We will now launch a 'Grave Found' investigation, in order to confirm Private Holdcroft's original burial location. Thank you for the evidence that you have submitted to support this investigation. If we are able to confirm his grave location through documentary evidence, then a member of our Area team will conduct a ground check to confirm the condition of the grave and decide on the most appropriate form of commemoration. Please note, the installation of any form of marker will only be possible once permission has been gained from the relevant site owner. This investigation can therefore take some considerable time, so your patience whilst we complete this work is appreciated.

I will be in touch again once an outcome has been reached in the 'Grave Found' investigation.

I'd like to thank you for raising this case with us and seeking to ensure that every Commonwealth war casualty is appropriately commemorated.

108 years after Alfred Holdcroft died of wounds sustained in one of the bloodiest battles of WW1 he finally gets the recognition he deserves and his family can be proud that his service to King and Country has finally been honoured by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.