DAINES, ALBERT
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Private
14722303
09/10/1944
18
Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders 5th Bn.
I. D. 18
Always pleasant unselfish and kind
a beautiful memory left behind
Additional information:
Son of Edward and Edith Daines, of Lowestoft, Suffolk
Initially buried at the Sint-Oedenrodenseweg in the village of Best.
From the service records it appears that Albert Daines was born on 23 February 1926 in Cohan, Lowestoft, Suffolk. Before joining the army he worked as a labourer. He was not married. Daines was 5 feet 4¾ inches tall and had blue-grey eyes and medium brown hair.
He enlisted in the British Army on 2 March 1944 and was first posted to the General Service Corps for his initial training. On 19 September 1944 he was transferred to the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Shortly after completing his training he was sent to the front in North-West Europe, on 13 September 1944. Like many young reinforcements arriving after the Normandy campaign, he was quickly sent into active operations during the Allied advance through the Netherlands.
Private Albert Daines was killed in action on 9 October 1944, only a few weeks after arriving in the combat zone. He was just 18 years old. His short service reflects the harsh reality faced by many young soldiers who joined the fighting in the final months of the war in Western Europe
