Thursday 16th September 1915

Front line trenches near Bois Grenier.

On their first full day in the trenches, the Battalion suffered their first losses in action as two men were killed; both were members of Tunstill’s Company. The first man to be killed was Pte. Arthur Hargreaves (see 21^st August); the Battalion War Diary noted his death and that he ‘was sniped whilst cooking his dinner’.  Letters home from comrades, published later in The Craven Herald, confirmed that Hargreaves, ‘was shot through the back by a German sniper, the bullet entering his back and passing through his lungs. He died on the way to hospital’.  Private Johnny Smith (see 21^st August) also passed the news on to his own family, telling them that, ‘We lost one man the first day by sniper; they are clever at that job – firing all day on the off-chance of hitting you’.  Arthur Hargreaves was killed exactly one year to the day from when he had signed his attestation papers.

Arthur Hargreaves’ death left his wife Janie a widow at the age of 27 with the care of her two year-old daughter. Janie Hargreaves died in 1974, aged 86.

In the evening, there was an intensification of German machine gun fire which claimed the life of a second member of A Company. L. Cpl. Raymond Douglas Tilbrook  was bringing supplies up to the front line when, at 10 pm, he was shot through the head and killed instantly. Tilbrook’s widow received a letter from his fellow Keighley recruit, L. Cpl. Richard Cleasby Chorley (see 15^th April), informing her of the circumstances of her husband’s death and passing on the condolences of the whole of number four platoon who, he said, ‘held Private Tilbrook in the highest esteem’. 

Raymond Douglas Tilbrook was born on New Year’s Eve 1884; he was the younger of the two sons of Fred and Elizabeth Tilbrook. The family lived for many years in Keighley where Fred was caretaker of Holycroft School; following his death in 1910 this post had been taken up by his elder son, John. Raymond worked for the Co-Op; firstly at the Lund Park shop and more recently as manager of the Utley branch. On 21^st May 1912 he had married Sarah McKechnie and their first child, Jean, had been born the following Spring. Raymond had enlisted in September 1914 and had been among the contingent of Keighley men who had been attached to Tunstill’s original recruits. It seems likely that his managerial experience had been a factor in his promotion to Lance Corporal.

Sarah Tilbrook died in 1953, aged 61.

Both widows received letters from Captain Tunstill, expressing his sympathies and informing them that their late husbands had been buried in the churchyard in Bois Grenier with crosses placed upon their graves. There were also letters from the Battalion chaplain, Reverend William Leveson Henderson (see 27^th August), conveying the deepest sympathy of the officers and men, and saying that the funerals had been attended by a number of the men’s comrades.

The remains of both Arthur Hargreaves and Raymond Tilbrook would be subsequently moved to Brewery Orchard Cemetery, Bois-Grenier (grave references III. B. 7; 8).

It was around this date, though the exact date has not been established, that Pte. Frank Harrison (3/11632) (see 1^st June) was reported as having suffered a slight wound; the nature of the wound is unclear but it may have been related to the old fractured humerus for which he had been treated in June.

Sgt. Robert William John Morris (see 29^th August) was reported by 2Lt. George Stuart Hulburd (see 27^th August), Sgt. Sam Beveridge (see below) and Cpl. Charles Edgar Shuttleworth (known as Edgar) (see 22^nd July) for ‘neglecting to obey Battalion trench orders in that he entered a dugout at night’; he was formally placed under arrest to await trial by Field General Court Martial.

Sam Beveridge was an original member of the Battalion; he had enlisted aged 37 while working as a coal miner in Wortley.

At home in Keighley Annie Dacey, wife of Pte. John Dacey, gave birth to the couple’s first child; the boy would be named Lawrence. John Dacey was a 29 year-old borer in a brass foundry; he had previously (1903-09) served with the Territorials. He would subsequently, date and details unknown, be transferred to the the Royal Engineers, Railway Operating Division. In the absence of a surviving service record I can establish no further details of his service beyond the fact that he would be promoted to the rank of Second Corporal and would survive the war and return to Keighley.