[Published in the newspaper The Ladysmith Chronicle on October 16, 1915]

ALFRED JAMES PICKUP KILLED IN ACTION
Mrs. W.J. Watson has received a letter from Mrs. Louisa Pickup, of Beckingham, England, announcing the death of Alfred Pickup, who died in action on September 26th. Enclosed in the letter to Mrs. Watson is a sympathetic note to Mrs. Pickup from Lieut. Col. Walter H. Young, commanding Second Yorkshire Regiment in which he speaks feelingly of the death of the young man. In the letter to Mrs. Pickup it is stated that the young officer was holding part of a German trench captured by the Yorkshires when a bullet killed him. Death was instantaneous and he suffered no pain. He was buried by his company near the spot where he fell. Further on Lieut. Col. Young says:

“There was no officer in the regiment that could have been less spared. He was recognized by us as a bold leader of men, and from that point of view his loss is tremendously felt but also we liked him so much.”

The parents also received a telegram of sympathy from the King and Queen. A beautiful memorial service was held at his old home, and was largely attended by old friends of the family.

The death of Alfred James Pickup will be deeply deplored in Ladysmith, where he resided during the year 1912, having been attached to the Bank of Commerce staff. After leaving here he went to Victoria, and when war broke out he immediately joined his old regiment, the Second Yorkshire Regiment. He was a manly young fellow and made friends of all with whom he came in contact. He possessed character of a high order, and the tribute of his commanding officer, that he was a born leader of men, will convey fully the estimate in which he was held by his intimate friends in Ladysmith. It may be some consolation to the bereaved parents to learn that the friends of the young man in British Columbia deeply sympathize with them in the loss of their son.