Bertram Andrews was born in 1895 and attended Bancrofts School in Woodford Green, London between 1906 and 1913. With a passion for English, he was a regular contributor of reviews and poems to the school’s newspaper. On the outbreak of war he joined the 16th Battalion (Public Schools) Middlesex Regiment as a private soldier. The battalion was raised on 1 September 1914 and proceeded to France on 17 November 1915. Andrews saw service in the line in the following winter and spring but by the summer he was withdrawn from the Front for officer training in Ayr. During his time in Ayr he fell in love with a local girl, Annie Knox. He received his commission on 4 August 1916 and was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment, 13th Battalion (the South Downs Battalion).
In July 1917 Andrews was attached to the Signal section of his battalion in the Ypres sector where the Third Battle of Ypres was scheduled to commence in the area of Pilckem Ridge. Andrews was required to lead troops close to the initial advance to ensure telephone and other communication links were laid from the forward posts back to the reserve positions and command. The advance began at 0350 hours on 31 July: Andrews was struck down in the earliest stages of the battle when a shell burst whilst he was leading his troops across No Man’s Land. Badly wounded in the abdomen and side, he was evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station where he died shortly after he was admitted. He is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
In 2015 the Old Bancroftians Association was contacted by a lady in Scotland who had discovered a book of poems and other memorabilia in the belongings of her deceased aunt, Annie Knox. The poems were written by Bertram Andrews who left them with Annie on his return to the Front. The Old Bancroftians arranged for the poems to be transcribed and we are grateful to have the opportunity to reproduce the poems here. Our thanks go to Gordon Brown for bringing Bertram Andrews to our attention. All the biographical information on this page is reproduced from the Bertram Andrews page on The Bancroftian Network website http://bancroftians.net/cgi-bin/bancms3.pl?dn=centandrewsbjw