Christopher James Alexander (24 March 1887 – 5 October 1917) was an English

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. He was the son of Joseph Gundry Alexander and the brother of ornithologists

Wilfred Backhouse Alexander Wilfrid Backhouse Alexander (4 February 1885 – 18 December 1965) was an England, English ornithologist and entomologist. He was a brother of Horace Alexander and Christopher James Alexander. Alexander was born at Croydon in Surrey, England in ...

and Horace Gundry Alexander.

Early life

Alexander was born on 24 March 1887 in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, England, and was educated at

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The schoo ...

, York and the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye. He gained a BSc in Agriculture in 1908 from the college and remained there as staff for the next year. In 1909, after devoting some time to mycological work in England, Alexander left for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to take up a post as redacteur at the

International Institute of Agriculture The International Institute of Agriculture (IIA) was founded in Rome in 1905 by the King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III with the intent of creating a clearinghouse for collection of agricultural statistics. It was created primarily due to the efforts ...

, where he stayed until 1916. From an early age, Alexander showed a love of natural history which continued up until his death. Whilst he was at school he kept detailed notes of observations on birds, plants, and insects. He continued these daily notes after he left school and indeed for the rest of his life. He observed the song of birds, the first blossoming of flowers, appearance of certain insects, and appearance, increase, decrease, departure and passage of migrants – until the day of his death.Ibis, April 1918, Volume 60, Issue 3

Ornithology

Alexander made very detailed observations of bird-distribution and migration, first in Kent and other parts of England, and then in Rome. Even at war in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, he still made detailed records; observing the birds throughout autumn and winter and in

The Somme The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

in July. In 1916, Alexander came back to England from Rome so that he could serve in the army. He enlisted as a Private and joined the

Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

on 29 February 1916 before transferring to

The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Ar ...

after the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

.http://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V11/V11_N09/V11_N09_P204_209_OB041.pdf During his training he was based mainly in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, but in June of that year, he was sent to France. There, fighting at the Somme, Alexander was able to alleviate his grim surroundings somewhat by looking and listening to birds. He was often rewarded by the sight of a

green sandpiper The green sandpiper (''Tringa ochropus'') is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World. The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus ''Tringa''; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (''T. solitaria''). They ...

in a flooded trench or a

great grey shrike The great grey shrike (''Lanius excubitor'') is a large and predatory songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae). It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Iberian grey shrike (''L. meridionalis''), the Chinese ...

on the battlefieldH.G Alexander. British Birds XI., No. 9, 1 February 1918. One night in 1917, while on sentry duty, Alexander broke his leg. The injury was assumed to be just a sprain and was not properly treated for more than two weeks. He was then sent back to Britain, and spent his convalescence in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, Wales. After more training until his leg was fully healed, Alexander was sent back to France. He was mortally wounded during the

Battle of Broodseinde The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British Second and Fifth armies against the German 4th Army. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of t ...

on 4 October 1917 and died the following day. He is buried in

Hooge Crater Cemetery Hooge Crater Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the World War I, First World War located in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. Hooge Crater Cemetery is named ...

, located on the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

in Belgium. Christopher James Alexander grave

Character

Alexander was a kind, shy, unassuming man, for whom "social intercourse with any but very simple, unassuming, frank people, or to those who shared his interests, was a torment to him." It was typical of him that it was only after he died that his family learnt that in one of the battles in which he took part he had captured a German prisoner and shared his last biscuit and water with him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Christopher James English ornithologists 1887 births 1917 deaths People educated at Bootham School Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) soldiers British military personnel killed in World War I Queen's Royal Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century British zoologists Burials at Hooge Crater Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Military personnel from London Alumni of Wye College