Alfred James Usborne was initiated into The Lodge of Unity on 1st December, 1913 aged 24, and like so many other young men of that era he entered the armed forces shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914.

Bro. Alfred started his army career as a Lieutenant (we believe in the Territorial army) and quickly rose through the ranks to become a Major in the Royal Field Artillery. Being in the R.F.A. was not as safe as it sounds, these brigades were mainly composed of horse drawn medium calibre guns that were deployed close to the front line, often where the fighting was at its most fierce.

The Great War, as it became known, saw some of the bloodiest fighting in the history of all wars, being the first industrial war of our time - and before conventional rules had been properly established. We know that Major Usborne had already recovered from a previously serious battle injury, when on the 29th April, 1917 (one hundred years ago this month) he was killed in action during the battle of Arras in France and was later buried by his men in a nearby woods at night.

Bro. Alfred's name is marked on the Masonic Roll of Honour with those of 3,456 other masonic brethren who fell in battle during the Great War.