War Memorial
Alfred Sears was born around 1882 in Chiddingstone, Kent, one of the children of John and Sarah Sears. The family farmed at Brownings, and the census of 1901 shows Alfred still at home there, sharing the household with three brothers and a sister.
When war came, Alfred enlisted at Tonbridge and joined the 6th Battalion of the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), serving as a Private with the service number G/10508. He went to fight on the Western Front, where he lost his life in action on 1 December 1917 in France and Flanders. He was about 34 years old. For his service he earned a single campaign medal.
Curiously, his name does not appear on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, yet he is commemorated closer to home in two places: on the war memorial at Chiddingstone Causeway and on the memorial at Edenbridge Hospital. This profile was last revised on 7 November 2008.