Saturday 17th March 1917

Eperlecques

A beautiful Spring day, with some eleven hours of sunshine, although with a strong wind at times. The officers of the Battalion played the officers of 11^th West Yorks at rugby, winning by 19-0.

Pte. Nathaniel Bather (see 16^th January) was admitted to 69^th Field Ambulance, suffering from diarrhoea.

2Lts. Leopold Henry Burrow and Vincent Edwards (see 17^th March) who had arrived in France ten days earlier, now reported for duty with the Battalion.

Pte. Charlie Long also reported for duty; he had arrived in France on 5^th March and had originally been due to join 9DWR but had, instead, been re-posted to 10DWR. He was a 23 year-old carter from Thornton, Bradford and had worked for the Thornton Co-Operative Society.

Pte. Francis John Bottomley (see 2^nd March), who had only been with the Battalion for three weeks before being admitted to 10^th Stationary Hospital at St. Omer, suffering from paralysis of his left forearm, was evacuated to England onboard the Hospital Ship Princess Elizabeth.


Pte. James Edward Simpson (see 17^th September), serving with 83^rd Training Reserve Battalion in Gateshead, was reported for ‘gambling in the lines’; he was ordered to forfeit three days’ pay.

Pte. George Hayes (see 12^th December 1916) was posted from the Northern Command Depot at Ripon to 3DWR at North Shields.

The weekly edition of the Keighley News carried a report of the recent wounding of Cpl. James Shackleton MM (see 9^th March); there was also confirmation of the death in action of Cpl. Henry Feather, the younger brother of Pte. Joe Feather (see 27^th February):

LOCAL CASUALTIES

Corporal James Shackleton, West Riding Regiment, who formerly resided at 64 Catherine Street, Keighley, has been admitted to a Glasgow hospital suffering from wounds in the back and arm. He joined the forces in September 1914. In the latter part of 1916 he was awarded the Military Medal. Before the war he was employed by Messrs. A. Waterhouse & Son, drapers, South Street, Keighley.

YOUNG CORPORAL’S DEATH IN ACTION

Mr. Robert Feather, of Fern Bank, Utley, the well-known Keighley auctioneer, has received news that one of his four soldier sons, Corporal H. Feather (21), West Yorkshire Regiment, has been killed in action. A smart and gentlemanly young fellow he enlisted shortly after the outbreak of the war and before being drafted to the front on which he met his death was serving in Egypt. Before the war he was learning the spinning business at the mill of Mr. Robert Calverley, Halifax Road, Keighley. The first intimation Mr. Feather received of his son’s death was contained in a sympathetic letter dated March 3 from Corporal Clifford Smith (Keighley). Corporal Smith wrote: “Your son was first reported missing and I waited until a thorough search had been made, and I have been making exhaustive enquiries. Today I have seen the man who found the body this morning, and he informs me that Harry was killed by an explosive bullet and death must have been instantaneous. Our chaplain buried him today along with his chums of our old section, Sergeant Little and Corporal Groves”.

Writing to Mr. Feather on March 9^th the chaplain (the Rev. John G. Thornton) said: “We are deeply grieved to lose one who has been with the Battalion so long, and who won the respect and confidence of all who worked with him. Your grief, however, is deeper still, I feel so sorry for you. Your son’s life seems cut off so short. The cost of this war falls heavily upon you yet in all your sorrow you will feel proud that your son did his duty nobly and bravely. He had answered voluntarily the call of his country in her hour of need. Even though she called him to die, he did not hesitate. If a new nation, with purer ideas and fresher life, arises out of this war, then your son’s precious blood will not have been spilt in vain. We must pray for this and may God help you bravely to bear this tremendous demand upon your home”. Mr. and Mrs. Feather have received numerous letters of sympathy, among then being from Mr. T.P. Watson, principal of the Trade and Grammar school, at which school the deceased soldier was formerly a pupil; and one from Mr. Robert Calverley, on behalf of himself and the workpeople at Hope Mills, Keighley. Corporal Feather had only just passed his twenty-first birthday.

 

Cpl. James Shackleton MM