I think the CWGC reference to the 70th Battalion is wrong. He was probably initially recruited into the 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion
because he was too young at 18 or 19 to be sent to fight.
Amended as he would have been around 26 when the war started. But the 70th Battalion was disbanded in 1943 so he would have gone into one of the 2 Regular or 5 TA Battalions of the West Kents.
The casualty list No.1392 (on FindMyPast - see below) dated states that he died at sea while a prisoner of war in the hands of the Italians. This needs some unpicking. The Italians had signed an armistice with the Allies in September 1943 so effectively they were out of the war, although some Italian soldiers then went on to fight with the Allies against the Germans in Italy. Thus after the end of September 1943 there were technically no POWs in Italian hands; the Germans had rapidly stepped in and taken over many of the POW camps in Italy and moved the Allied POWs to Germany. But that doesn't explain how Albert met his death at sea 'while a POW in the hands of the Italians'. It may be that he died much earlier while Italy was still a belligerent, and the fact of his death was only reported later, but this seems unlikely as a specific date is given for his death. What seems more likely is that he was captured at some point in 1943, perhaps during the
Dodecanese Campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean, and was on an Itallian ship being moved back to Italy when the ship was attacked and sunk, either by the British or the Germans. There are several reports of the Luftwaffe attacking Italian troopships after the Armistice because they saw the Italians as traitors to the Axis cause.
I haven't been able to identify any specific sinking of an Italian ship which fits the date of his death.
This makes it difficult to say which battalion he was serving with.
The 1st Battalion was still in Tunisia in North Africe until February 1944 because it was so under strength and was being used as a pool of replacement manpower for other infantry units, But if Albert had been taken POW much earlier it is possible that he might have been with the 1st Battalion.
However I think this is unlikely due to his age.
Amended for the same reason as above.
It seems much more likely he went to the 2nd (Regular) Battalion as they were in the Aegean in 1943 and most of the Battalion was captured by the Germans in the Autumn of 1943 on the Island of Leros. I can find no information to suggest that the Italians took control of the POWs, given that they were out of the war in September 1943.
There was no 3rd Battalion.
The 4th Battalion was part of 161 Indian Infantry Brigade fighting in Burma at the time, so we can rule them out completely.
The 5th, 6th and 7th (TA) Battalions were all in Italy from around September 1943. Given his links with Bromley, he might possibly have gone into the 5th Battalion as that was the area where they recruited. However as already stated if he was captured in Italy, after September 1943 he wouldn't have been an Italian POW, nor is there any reason why he would have been at sea.
It seems to me that the most likely explanation is that he was with the 2nd Battalion and died while being shipped back to the Northern part of Italy which was still in German hands. Ideally it would be good to find the initial casualty report in which he was reported missing. Depending on how seriously you want to find out more about Albert's time in the military, it might be worth contacting the
Regiment's museum in Maidstone. And finally the
2nd Battalion's war diary might provide some clues, but obviously, it won't cover any details after the majority of the unit were captured by the Germans.
