Saturday 8th March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

A further five men were transferred to 8^th Yorks. and Lancs. They were A/CQMS James Allen (see 30^th January) and Ptes. James Frederick Coldwell (see 4^th April), Richard Harold Haresnape (see 4^th April 1918), John Thomas Mason (see 3^rd February 1918) and John Walton (see 14^th July 1918).

Sgt. William Proctor (see 1^st March 1917), serving in France with 298^th Railway Company, Royal Engineers, was posted back to England for demobilization.

Pte. Edgar Bairstow (see 27^th October 1918), who was serving with 3DWR at North Shields having been wounded in October 1918, was reported as having been, ‘improperly dressed, ie wearing civilian boots in Park Avenue, Whitley Bay about 2.30pm’ and for’ ‘slovenly conduct, ie greatcoat unfastened and hands in pockets’; he would be confined to barracks for seven days.

L.Cpl. Martin Jackson (see 1^st January) was officially ‘disembodied’; having suffered from appendicitis contracted whilst in service he was awarded an Army pension of 8s. per week.

Ptes. Jack Massheder (see 11^th June 1918) and John Quinn (see below) were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

John Quinn had originally served with 8DWR, going to Gallipoli in July 1915; at some point (date and details unknown) he had been transferred to 10DWR. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Pte. George Barber (see 26^th December 1917), who had been serving with the Royal Defence Corps, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Frank Murgatroyd was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had been an original member of 10DWR but at some point (date and details unknown) had been transferred to the Army Service Corps. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Friday 7th March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

Pte. Fred Hargreaves (29267) (see 6^th February) completed and signed his ‘Statement as to disability’ forms, which were a precursor to his being posted back to England. The completed forms, which confirmed that he did not claim to have suffered any disability in service, were witnessed by 2Lt. Albert Joseph Acarnley MC (see 22^nd February).

Pte. Fred Hargreaves (29267)

Image by kind permission of Patrick Hargreaves

Lt. John William Headings (see 30^th October), the former Battalion Quartermaster, who had been in England since having been injured in an accident in September 1918,  wrote from Escrick Park  Auxiliary Hospital for Officers, York, asking for attention to his application for a wound gratuity, having “been over five months in hospital and still under treatment owing to the knee having been badly twisted”.

Cpl. Herbert Axe MM (see 27^th October 1918), who had been in England since having been wounded in October 1918, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to wounds suffered in action. His disability was assessed as being 100% and he was awarded a pension of 43s. 4d. per week.

Cpl. Charles Fleming (see 13^th March 1918) was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to wounds suffered in action (I am unable to establish when, or under what circumstances he had been wounded, or any details of his treatment).

CSM Albert Blackburn DCM (see 8^th February), Cpl. William Foulds (see 20^th February) and Ptes. Thomas Eccleston (see 31^st January) and Arthur Lindsay (see 12^th October 1918), were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Arthur Lindsay

Pte. Sam Sunderland (see 30^th January), who had been in England since December 1918, was officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Richard Swallow (see 12^th March 1918), who had been in England since October 1917, was officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Reginald Hancock (see 13^th January), serving with 497^th Home Service Employment Company, was officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Thomas Martin Douglas (see 5th January 1917) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had at some point (date and details unknown) been transferred to the Labour Corps.

Thursday 6th March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

Pte. Frederick McKell (see 21^st November 1918), serving in France with 1^st/7^thDWR, was posted back to England for demobilization.

Pte. Frank William Rabjohn (see 3^rd February), who was at one of the Base Depots at Le Havre, pending being re-posted to Italy to re-join 10DWR, was admitted to 2^nd General Hospital at Le Havre suffering from influenza.

L.Sgt. Thomas Craven Patchett (see 26^th December 1918), L.Cpl. John Lamb Watt (see 31^st January) and Ptes. Clarence Hubert Bolt (see 3^rd February), John Bundy (see 3^rd February), James Foster (23956) (see 11^th June 1918), Ernest Heyhirst (see 3^rd February), James Henry Innes (see 3^rd February), George William Jameson (see 3^rd February), George Mather (see 3^rd February), Roland Hey (see below), Arnold Robson (see 3^rd February), Charley Wadsworth (see 24^th January) and Victor Alexander Wildman (see 3^rd February) were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Roland Hey had been an original member of the Battalion, having enlisted aged 23 and working as a warehouseman in Ripponden; in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish any details of his service.

Sgt. William Henry Mears (see 19^th February 1918) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; at some point (date and details unknown) he had been transferred from 10DWR to 8DWR.

Cpl. Anthony John Laskey (see 11^th August 1917) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; at some point (date and details unknown) he had been transferred from 10DWR to 2DWR.

Pte. Arthur Bird was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had been an original member of 10DWR but at some point (date and details unknown) he had been transferred to 8DWR. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Pte. William Frederick Denman (see 23^rd November 1916), who had been serving with the RAF was formally transferred to the RAF Reserve Class Z.

Ptes. Arthur Greenbank (see 6^th June 1918) and George Henry Haigh (see 16^th January 1917), who had been serving with 23^rd Battalion Machine Gun Company, were also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Willie Hey (see 20^th July 1917) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; since leaving 10DWR having been wounded in June 1917 he had served with 9DWR, 8DWR and finally 2^nd/4^th DWR.

Pte. Thomas Delaney (see 21^st November 1918) ,who had been in England since having been wounded in August 1918, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he was awarded an Army pension. 

Pte. Raymond Charles Ingleson (see 9^th November 1918), who had been in England since having been wounded in August 1918, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he was awarded an Army pension of 11s. per week, to be reviewed after one year.

Ptes. William Seymour Budd (see 20^th September 1917), Harry Clarke (15251) (see 20^th September 1917) and Walter Hayes Mason were also transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; all three had been original members of 10DWR, having enlisted in 1914 but at some point (date and details unknown) had been transferred to the Labour Corps. Ptes. Budd and Clarke had been wounded in September 1917. In the absence of a surviving service record for Pte. Mason I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

L.Cpl. Robert Whitaker (see 24^th October 1918), who had been in England since having been wounded in August 1918, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service on account of his wounds; he was assessed as having suffered a 50% disability and was awarded an Army pension of 13s. 9d. per week for six months, rising thereafter to £1 per week.

Wednesday 5th March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

A draft of 52 other ranks was posted to 505^th Prisoner of War Company at San Bonifacio; they would be officially taken on the strength of the Company on 27^th March. This comprised of almost half of the men then serving with the Battalion. The composition of this draft is unclear, but it is known that Sgt. John Stephenson (see 20^th September 1918), Cpl. Fred Greenwood MM (24522) (see 23rd December 1918), L.Cpl. Victor Lawson Smith (see 28^th September 1918) and Ptes. Fred Clayton (see 5^th October), George Green (22749) (see 24^th November 1918) and Charles Knight (see 27^th February) were among the men attached.

Pte. Frank Easterby (see 24^th October 1918), who had suffered severe wounds to his chest in August 1918, was discharged from 2^nd Western General Hospital in Manchester. He was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service on account of his wounds. He was assessed as having suffered a 50% disability and was awarded an Army pension of 13s. 9d. per week, to be reviewed after one year.

Cpl. Alfred Sayer (see 27^th October 1918) was transferred to the Army Reserve Class B; this class of reserve was for men who had completed their service in the regular army and were serving their normal period (typically of five years) on reserve. Section B reservists could only be called upon in the event of general mobilisation; pay was 3s. 6d. per week.

Ptes. William Grimes (see 21st June 1918) and William Stead Rycroft (see 9^th October 1916) were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Francis Titcombe (see 29^th October 1918), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Harry Beckett was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had been an original member of 10DWR but had subsequently been transferred to the Lancashire Fusiliers. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Pte. Harold Laycock was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had been an original member of 10DWR but had subsequently served with 11DWR and 2DWR. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Pte. Anthony Mullaney (see 24^th June 1917), serving with the Labour Corps, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. James Wilson (see 17^th September 1918), serving with 728^th Employment Company, based at Hitchin, Herts., was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z. A medical examination conducted prior to his transfer concluded that he had been suffering from malaria; that his condition was currently stable and represented no disability; but that he should be re-examined within twelve months of transfer.

Tuesday 4th March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

Pte. James Pidgeley (see 20^th November 1918) was reported for being drunk; he would be deprived of 28 days’ pay.

Cpl. Arthur William Stobart (see 25^th November 1918) was discharged from a Convalescent Depot in Genoa and posted to the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia.

A/Sgt. Abel Roberts DCM (see 2^nd March), L.Cpls. Roderick Harmer (2^nd March) and Jesse Merritt (see 2^nd March) and Ptes. Wellington Baldwin (see 2^nd March), George Lownsborough (see 2^nd March) and Jonas Yoxall (see 2^nd March) were posted back to England for demobilization. Roberts, Harmer and Merritt would be demobilized from Wimbledon; Baldwin and Lownsborough from Ripon; and Yoxall from Prees Heath.

Ptes. John Bayliss (see 18^th February) and James Henry Lomax (see 18^th February), serving with 8^th Yorks. and Lancs. at Fiume, were reported by Cpl. Victor Race MM (see 2^nd March) as “absent from roll call at 9pm until reporting at 9.55pm”; both would be deprived of three days’ pay.

A/Maj. John Atkinson (see 13^th December 1918), second-in-command 51^st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, was posted, with his Battalion, to Germany as part of the army of occupation.

Lt. David Lewis Evans (see 7^th November 1918), serving with 3DWR, wrote to the War Office enquiring as to his eligibility for a further wound gratuity; in reply, he would be told that, “as you have already received the maximum gratuity of £250 in respect of your wound, you are not entitled to any further award”.

Lt. George Stuart Hulburd (see 21^st December 1918) formally relinquished his commission on grounds of ill health caused by his wounds.

Lt. George Stuart Hulburd

Image by kind permission of Paddy Ireland

Pte. Fred Mitchell (see 2^nd July 1917), who had had his right leg amputated having been wounded on 8^th June 1917, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to his wounds; his disability was assessed at 100%, reducing to 70% (presumably once fitted with an artificial limb) and he was awarded an Army pension of 27s. 6d. per week for three months, which would then be reduced to a life pension of 19s. 3d. per week.

Pte. Harold Spurr was also formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to wounds suffered in action. He was a 25 year-old former brewer labourer from Grimsby and had originally served with 10DWR before being transferred to 2DWR and finally 5DWR. He had suffered (date and details unknown) wounds to his chest, but in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish any details of his service. He was awarded a pension of 15s. per week.

Pte. Edwin Wood (see 27^th July 1918), who had been wounded while serving in France with 5DWR, was also formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to his wounds; his degree of disability was assessed as being 40% and he was awarded and Army pension of 11s. per week, to be reviewed after one year.

2Lt. Archibald (Archie) Allen (see 23^rd February), who been recently been released from the Army having been wounded in June 1918, again wrote to the War Office, 

“I have the honour to place this, my application for a further wound gratuity, before you for your kind consideration please. I was wounded 21^st June 1918 whilst on a raid near Asiago, Italy and sustained severe injuries to my left arm and chest. I have had three operations performed whilst in the hospital, but my arm will never again be right. I am therefore permanently disabled. From my chest I have had a rib removed that covers part of the heart and therefore liable to sustain dangerous results. This is my third application as I have not received any reply to my previous ones. I fully intended remaining in the Army as a profession but, having sustained the above injuries, I have been passed ‘permanently unfit’ and am therefore now unemployed and not a penny coming in for the upkeep of my house, wife and self”.

Ptes. William Demee (see 8^th September 1917) and David Doughty Glossop (see 7^th November 1918) were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Thomas Eccles (see 27^th April 1917) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had originally served with 10DWR but had been transferred, via the DLI and the Labour Corps, to 2^nd Yorks. and Lancs.

Pte. Fred Ingham (see 8^th July 1916) who had served with both 8DWR and 1^st/5^thDWR since having been treated for shellshock in July 1916, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Irving Gledhill (see 5^th July 1916), serving with 9^th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Robert Cresswell (see 7^th February), who had already resumed his pre-war employment with the West Riding Constabulary, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Clifford Patchett was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z. He was a 24 year-old wiredrawer from Cleckheaton. He had originally served with 1^st/4^th DWR but had at some point (date and details unknown) served with 10DWR before being transferred to 1^st/7^th DWR. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish any further details of his service.

Monday 3rd March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

Ptes. Ernest Portman (see 25^th February) and Richard Henry Wedgbury (see 24^th February) were posted back to England for demobilization. Portman would be demobilized from Chiseldon and Wedgbury from Clipstone.

Capt. Sydney Charles Ernest Farrance (see 25^th February 1918), serving with the Indian Army, was confirmed in his rank whilst commanding a squadron of the 5^th Cavalry.

Pte. Harold Deighton (see 4^th January), who had been in England on leave since December 1918 and had been instructed to resume his former employment, was formally struck off the strength of 10DWR.

Ptes. Harold Frost MM (see 16^th August 1917), Arthur Newton (see 17^th January) and John Starling (see 3^rd February) were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. John Sheridan (see 4^th May 1917), who had been serving with 2DWR, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. John Mendon Hall (see 10^th July 1916) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; since having suffered from shellshock in July 1916 he had been transferred to 9DWR. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish any details of his service.

Mrs. Agnes Percival, mother of Pte. James Percival (see 24^th January), wrote to the Infantry Records Office in York regarding her son,

“Might I trouble you in regards enclosed copy of report of my son, Pte. J. Percival, 25915, 10^th Duke of Wellington’s, winning the Military Medal which I received from you. My son was demobilized on 26^th December and in due course receiving his demobilized paper with ‘medals – nil’ on it he at once returned it with letter and copy as enclosed. He has also written four letters, receiving no acknowledgement for any. He is without papers should he be stopped at any time. Might I trouble you to make enquiries as regards same or could you refer me where to send if you are unable to do so.” The Records Office would reply four days later, informing Mrs. Percival that, “I beg to inform you that we have the Army Form Z21 which we were unable to complete owing the award not being published in the London Gazette.  Having recently obtained the date of the London Gazette, we are now able to hand you herewith, the amended form, and will forward your son’s medal as soon as same is released by the War Office, which will possibly be in the course of a few days. Apologizing for the delay caused”.

A payment of £9 10s. 7d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Sgt. Albert Hurford MM (see 24^th October 1918), who had been killed in action in October 1918 while serving with 1^st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment; the payment would go to his widow, Ida.

A payment of £6 3s. 4d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Milton Sutcliffe (see 27^th October 1918), who had been killed in action on 27^th October 1918; the payment would go to his widow, Agnes.

Sunday 2nd March 1919

Billets at Montecchia di Crosara

A/Sgt. Abel Roberts DCM (see 15^th November 1918), L.Cpls. Roderick Harmer (see 28^th October 1918) and Jesse Merritt (see 13^th August 1918) and Ptes. Wellington Baldwin (see 5^th September 1918), George Lownsborough (see 3^rd August 1918) and Jonas Yoxall (see 26^th November 1918) completed and signed their ‘Statement as to disability’ forms, which were a precursor to their being posted back to England. The completed forms, which confirmed that they did not claim to have suffered any disability in service, were witnessed, for Roberts, Harmer, Baldwin and Yoxall, by 2Lt. Wilfred Frederick John Thomson MC (see 17^th February) and for Merritt and Lownsborough by Capt. Paul James Sainsbury (see 25^th February).

2Lt. Harry Waller MM (see 16^th October 1918), serving with 111^th Company Machine Gun Corps, was admitted, via 48^th Field Ambulance and 20^th Casualty Clearing Station, to 14^th General Hospital at Wimereux; he was suffering from scabies.

Pte. Ernest Ashness (see 18^th February), serving in Fiume with 8^th Yorks. and Lancs., was reported ‘absent off roll call; he would forfeit three days’ pay.

Pte. Charles Frederick Riddial (see 18^th February), serving in Fiume with 8^th Yorks. and Lancs., was reported by Cpl. Victor Race MM (see 18^th February) for, “not complying with an order, ie., failing to clean a cupboard out when ordered to do so”; he would be confined to barracks for seven days.

Pte. Reginald Dayson (see 18^th February) was admitted to no.1 Military Prison at Rouen.

Pte. Eber Casson Sykes (see 13^th February 1918), serving in France with 298^th Reserve Labour Company, was posted back to England from demobilization; he would be demobilized from the Dispersal Unit at Prees Heath.

Pte. Ernest Rickett (see 20^th December 1917), whose sentence for desertion, from December 1917, had clearly been remitted, was transferred to the Army Reserve Class B; this class of reserve was for men who had completed their service in the regular army and were serving their normal period (typically of five years) on reserve. Section B reservists could only be called upon in the event of general mobilisation; pay was 3s. 6d. per week.

Sgts. Josias Bailey MM (see 31^st January) and John William Wardman DCM, MM (see 15^th January), L.Cpls. Alfred Hanson (see 22^nd January) and Albert Nixon (see 25^th January) and Ptes. Fred Atkinson (see 25^th January), Lewis Batey MM (see 31^st January), Joe Fawcett (see 9^th October 1917), Stanley Hirst (see 23^rd January), Leonard Hurley (see 25^th January), George Martin (see below), Douglas Mercer (see 25^th January), Harry Orchard (see 25^th January), William Parr (see 5^th October 1917) and William Watson (see 4^th October 1918), were officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

George Martin had been an original member of the Battalion but, in the absence of a surviving service record, I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Ptes. Stanley Barker DCM (see 4^th February) and Charles Edward Lund (see 23^rd December 1918), who had been serving with 3DWR at North Shields, were also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Harold Price (see 6^th October 1916), who had served with 8DWR and 9DWR since having been gassed while serving with 10DWR in October 1916, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Garnet Boothroyd (see 20^th September 1917), who had been serving with the Machine Gun Corps, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Richard Henry Schoon (see 12^th November 1918), who had been serving with 197^th Land Drainage Company, Royal Engineers, was officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. George Albert Wright (see 30^th September 1918), who had been serving in France with 148^th Labour Company Labour Corps, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.

Pte. Michael Hopkins MM (see 2^nd February), who had been serving in France with 29^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z. Having been twice wounded, he was assessed for an Army pension but his claim was rejected.

Pte. Henry Gardner (see 10^th July 1916) was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; since having been wounded while with serving with 10DWR in July 1916 he had served with several battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Dvr. George Rawlings, who had been serving with the Royal Field Artillery was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had originally served with 10DWR before being transferred. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or establish any details of his service.

Pte. Donald Hunter Ransom, who had been serving with the Labour Corps, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he had been an original member of 10DWR, having enlisted aged 17. He was from Farnham, Surrey and had worked as a telegraph messenger. In the absence of a  surviving service record I am unable to establish any details of his service or when or under what circumstances he had left 10DWR.

Pte. Francis Wilson Stockell (see 24^th June 1918), who had been serving in England with the Royal Defence Corps was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z. Having been wounded in July 1916 he was awarded an Army pension of 8s. 3d. per week, to be reviewed after one year.

Pte. Thomas McDonald (see 18^th May 1918), serving with the Royal Defence Corps, was formally transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z; he was also awarded an Army pension of 12s. per week on account of having suffered a disability due to a wound to his right thigh.

A/Cpl. Ralph Pocock Crease (see 2^nd February) who had been training for a commission, was also officially transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z.