Alfred Tyler was killed not on the battlefields of the Western Front but in Ireland during the Easter Rising when his battalion was hurriedly sent to Dublin to help put down the rebellion against British rule. But in a move that demonstrates how far Anglo-Irish relations have come since those days, in April 2016 his name will be listed on a controversial new memorial in Dublin dedicated to all those who died in the Rising. It is controversial because not everyone agrees that those who are referred to as Crown Forces should be remembered alongside those who fought against them 100 years ago. Alfred was the son of George and Mary Tyler of Exton, and was born in the village around 1895. He was a farm labourer working for the Earl of Ancaster on the Hardwick Farms before enlisting aged 21. Alfred joined the Leicestershire Regiment on 27 January 1916 and transferred to the 2/6th Battalion Sherwood Foresters. When the Easter Rising broke out in April, four battalions of Foresters were dispatched to help deal with the rebels. They arrived in Ireland very inexperienced and unsure of what they were getting involved in. The Foresters were ambushed on their march into Dublin at Mount Street Bridge and were involved in heavy fighting in various parts of the city centre, suffering many casualties. On 27 April 1916, Alfred was shot dead by a sniper. We think it might have been during the battle for the South Dublin Union, a workhouse complex two miles from the General Post Office, but we are not sure exactly where the 2/6th Battalion was that day. Alfred's Captain wrote: "Although he was only a soldier for a short time his progress was most excellent, and he was one of the very best lads." Alfred is buried at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin, grave CE.645, and is remembered in Exton. At least two of his brothers served in the army and survived the war. In April 2016 a new memorial wall at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin will be unveiled to the memory of all who died in the Easter Rising, Irish and British. Alfred's name can also be found in an audio-visual display in the new museum at the cemetery.

Grangegorman Cemetery is near Phoenix Park in Dublin. The entrance is in Blackhorse Avenue. Alfred's grave is in the plot to the right as you come through the second gate, third row from the back.