1232 later 292752, Sergeant, Albert Victor HOOD, 180th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery

“A Hood” as listed. Albert was born on 21st March 1892 and was the son of Charles and Sarah Hood.
His younger brother Malcolm Hood was killed in action serving with the 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment on 19th September 1916. He is commemorated on the Bramford village memorial.
The evidence for Albert’s service during the war is from the photograph of him with Malcolm (Albert is seated).
Albert is dressed in the uniform of the Royal Artillery. The riding crop indicates that he was, at the time, a Driver.
No service records have survived but there is a medal index card for Albert V Hood who was a Sergeant in the Royal Garrison Artillery. Albert has not been traced in the 1911 census when he would have been 19 years old. It is, therefore, possible that he was serving in the army by then. The medal card does not tell us when (except that it was after 1915) or where he served but indicates that he was a Sergeant by the time he went abroad. However, the photograph of him with Malcolm does not show any marks of rank. We know that Malcolm was in the 6th (Cyclists) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment before the war which was a Territorial unit (Although not very clear, Malcolm’s cap badge does look like a Territorial version). A Pension Record card (WFA/Fold3) confirms that Sgt Hood No 292752 lived in Bramford.
A Medical Record from No 31 Casualty Clearing Station tells us that he was admitted for a broken collar bone on 28th April 1917. He was aged 24 and had served for 1 year 10 months including 1 month in the field. This would put his enlistment to around June 1915. He was serving with the 180th Heavy Battery which was in Salonika from the 1st April 1917.
Albert married Winifred E Moore on 4th August 1919 in Bramford. In 1939 he is living at 9 High Street, Needham Market and described as a Licensed Victualler. He died in 1975 in Ipswich age 83.