Tuesday 6th June 1916

Bouvigny Huts

Conditions remained quiet, with further training carried out. The weather was dull, with some rain.

Pte. Robert William Bell (see 2^nd April) was admitted to 4^th Stationary Hospital at Arques, suffering from tonsilitis.

Pte. Robert William Bell

Sgt. Herbert Grayshon (see 24^th May) was discharged from 4^th Stationary Hospital at Arques and re-joined the Battalion.

A number of men joined the Battalion from 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples, where they had spent the previous three weeks after being posted to France on 18^th May. The delay in their being posted to active service was due to fears over an outbreak of German measles, as reported in a letter home by Pte. William Dixon; he was 21 years old and from Addingham. Pte. Dixon had told his family, “Thanks for the parcel received in good condition. We have not had a bad time of it up to now, and as far as fighting is concerned, we have seen none as yet, in fact we can hardly realise that we are in France. On arriving at the base camp one of our lads was found to be suffering from German measles, and we have been isolated ever since, but we remove from this camp to-morrow, and then I dare say we shall see some fun. John Burke has already gone up to the firing line, his parcel landed here all right, and I dare say by now he will have received it. The first day we arrived I came across Jack Smith, he had just come down from the firing line for a rest”. The man suffering from German measles was Pte.Thomas Walter Mellin, a 20 year-old farm labourer from Long Preston; he had spent most of the previous three weeks in hospital in the isolation block at 24^th General Hospital at Etaples, after being found to be suffering from the disease. Also among the draft was L.Cpl. Harold William Crowther was a 20 year-old warehouseman from Bradford; he had been appointed Lance Corporal whilst in training with 11DWR. L.Cpl. Joseph Currie was a 22 year-old asylum assistant from Menston. Pte. Albert Armitage was a 22 year-old weaver from Huddersfield. Pte. Walter Barker was a 20 year-old warehouseman from Bradford. Pte. Harold Best was 22 years old and from Leeds. Pte. Alfred Bogg was a 20 year-old weaver from Silsden. Pte. Albert Bradley was a 19 year-old currier from Otley. Pte. Harry Bradley was a 28 year-old sawyer from Sheffield; He was married with two children. He had enlisted in January 1915 and had served two months at Gallipoli with 8DWR from August to October 1915 before returning to England (reason unknown). Pte. James Bradley (18319) was a 19 year-old tailor’s apprentice from Shipley. Pte. Fred Brown was a 19 year-old weaver from Waddington and had originally attested under the Derby Scheme in December 1915. During his training with 11DWR at Brocton Camp in Staffordshire he had been reported absent off pass, having returned to duty eight hours late from his final leave. His punishment, forfeiture of one day’s pay, had been ordered by the original commander of Tunstill’s Company, Maj. Harry Robert Hildyard, (see 20^th May) who had been back in England since January. Pte. George Edward Chapman was a 22 year-old warehouseman from Bradford; he had married Phyllis Clark five months’ previously and she was pregnant with their first child. Pte. Arthur Cooper Clapham was a 22 year-old dyer’s labourer from Guiseley. Pte. Arthur Clarke was a 20 year-old horseman and cowman from Bingley. Pte. Arthur Cliffe was a 22 year-old dyers’ labourer (working for Buckle’s Dyeworks, Great Horton) from Lidget Green, Bradford. Pte. Samuel Cordingley was a 22 year-old textile worker from Yeadon. Pte. Garibaldi Edwin Dawson was a 21 year-old warehouseman from Earby.  Pte. Albert Edon was a 21 year-old butcher from Shipley. Pte. Henry Fielding was a 19 year-old warehouseman from Bingley. Pte. Joseph Fitzgerald (see 21^st November 1915), who was re-joining the Battalion having been in England since having been wounded in September 1915. Pte. Henry Edgar Grass was a 20 year-old carter from Sutton in Craven. Pte. Alfred Henry Green was a 20 year-old weaver from Barnoldswick. Pte. John Hargreaves (18009) was a 23 year-old textile worker from Farnhill near Skipton. Pte. Arthur Edward Holmes was a 19 year-old horseman from Bradford. Pte. Joseph Leonard Holmes was a 22 year-old warehouseman from Barnoldswick. Pte. Frank Horner was a 21 year-old motordriver from Huddersfield. Pte. Charles Hoyle was a 21 year-old weaver from Barnoldswick. Pte. Cyril Clarkson Hoyle was a 21 year-old 'process operator'; he was originally from Conisbrough but had been working in Bradford and his parents lived in Shipley. Pte. Frank Johnson was a 22 year-old joiner from Bingley. Pte. Edwin Kenyon was a 22 year-old cotton weaver from Barnoldswick. Pte. Cecil Lloyd was a 20 year-old cloth scourer from Bradford. Pte. John Longfellow (known as Jack) was a 20 year-old textile worker (working for Johnson and Akam) from Bradford and had originally served with 9DWR, going to France in July 1915 before being evacuated to England, sick, in March 1916. Thomas Mann was a 21 year-old storeman from Baildon. Pte. John Overend was a 19 year-old cabinet maker from Birstall. Pte. Ben Pedder was a 20 year-old dyer’s labourer from Bradford. Pte. Ezra Plumb was a 19 year-old farm worker from Roecliffe, near Harrogate. Pte. Harry Raistrick was a 19 year-old ‘seat finisher’ from Bradford. Pte. Howarth Reid was a 20 year-old weaver from Barnoldswick. Pte. Cecil Rhodes was a 20 year-old joiner and builder from Bradford. Pte. John Russell was a 20 year-old bootmaker from Shipley. Pte. Douglas Smith was a 21 year-old weaver from Earby. Pte. Richard Swallow (see 10th January) was re-joining the Battalion after spending seven months in England. Pte. Michael Taylor was a 20 year-old weaver from Barnoldswick. Pte. John Thompson was a 22 year-old grocer from Bradford. Pte. Frank Oddy Waddington was a 21 year-old wool warehouseman from Charlestown (between Baildon and Shipley). Pte. William Wigglesworth (17891) was from Keighley. Pte. Edwin Wood was a 22 year-old ‘seamer’ from Halifax. Pte. Herbert Milton Wood was a 22 year-old warehouseman from Bankfoot, Bradford.
Pte. Alfred Taylor, a 20 year-old warehouseman from Bradford, was also among this draft. The previous day his father had written to the Infantry Records Office, asking that his son should be sent back from France to be ‘put on Home Defence’:

“He joined the Seaforth Highlanders in June 1915 and was examined by a military doctor at Fort George, Scotland, who refused to pass him and gave him his discharge papers, as physically unfit. He attested under Lord Derby’s Scheme for Home Defence in January 1916 and was sent to Halifaxt and from there to Brocton Camp, Staffs., where he was again examined by a military doctor who told him that he would be fit for Garrison Duty. He was drafted to France on Thursday 18^th May. What I would like to explain to you, Sir, is that my son has very little muscle on his left side and his left foot is very much swollen and partly webbed. My son was born with this deficiency and the muscle will never develop. I have written to the Commanding Officer of the 11^th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s at Brocton Camp, Staffs. And I have stated the case to him. I received an answer stating that each man who proceeds overseas is subjected only to a rough examination as to his fitness and goes on to say that my son’s health must have improved since I last saw him, which was only a week before he proceeded to France, so I think he could only have been roughly examined or they would have found his deficiency. I beg you, Sir, to have his case fully investigated and I assure you that you will come to the conclusion that it is no fit place for a physically unfit man to be at the front”. Following enquiries to 11DWR, it would be confirmed (on 12^th June) that “He successfully passed through the training and was found fit by the Medical Officer before the draft proceeded overseas”. This information would be conveyed to Pte. Taylor’s father on 20^th June.

Ptes. Patrick Larvin (see 23^rd May) and William Leach (see 23^rd May), both of whom had been wounded two weeks previously, were evacuated to England from 2^nd General Hospital at Le Havre, travelling onboard the Hospital Ship Lanfranc; on arrival they were admitted to 3^rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth. A further X-ray examination of Pte. Leach revealed “metallic fragments in the thigh but arm was nil. As injury involved elbow, joint massage was carried out”.

Pte. William Leach

Image by kind permission of Andy Wade and MenfWorth

Lt. Harold Lockhart Waite, (see 5^th May), who had left the Battalion a month earlier to take up a posting as a Flying Officer (Observer) was formally appointed to the Royal Flying Corps.

Andrew Aaron Jackson was called up from the Army Reserve and posted to join 27^th Battalion Royal Fusiliers at Portobello, near Edinburgh; he would later be commissioned and serve with 10DWR. Andrew Aaron Jackson was 28 years old (born 16^th April 1888), married (to Florence Dyson, 1912), and had been working as headteacher at Burnley Road Evening School in  Mytholmroyd. He had attested, under the Derby Scheme, in November 1915.