Friday 3rd November 1916

Barracks in Ypres

Working parties continued to be provided; otherwise conditions were quiet.

Sgt. John William Wardman (see 14^th October) departed for England on ten days’ leave.

Pte. Albert Bradley (see 2^nd October) was appointed (unpaid) Lance Corporal.

L.Cpl. Willie Marsden (see 9^th July) was admitted to 70^th Field Ambulance for dental treatment; he would be discharged to duty on 6^th November.

Pte. Harry Gordon Binns (see 5^th July), who had been in England since having been wounded in July, was transferred from 83^rd Training Reserve Battalion to 3DWR at North Shields.  

2Lt. George Henry Roberts (see 19^th October), who had been in hospital in Southampton for the previous two weeks being treated for “trench fever and slight debility”, appeared before a Medical Board. The Board found him unfit for duty and ordered that he be re-examined in another month.

Capt. Gilbert Tunstill (see 20^th October) who had been granted a month’s sick leave from 16^th October, following the injury he had sustained in September, now wrote to the War Office requesting that his next Medical Board be convened at either York or Leeds. Tunstill was currently staying with Mr. T.B. Ecroyd, at Low House, Armathwaite, Cumberland.

Capt. Gilbert Tunstill

Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton

Following her recent application for a pension, the War Office wrote to Mrs. Marian Carpenter, mother of the late Capt. Herbert Montagu Soames Carpenter (see 20^th October), who had been killed in action on 5^th July. Having considered her application, she was told that, “In reply to your application for pension as the mother of Capt. HMS Carpenter, I am directed to inform you that, in view of the fact that your husband is not incapacitated by age or infirmity, you are not eligible, under the regulations, for a grant of pension from Army funds”.

Capt. H.M.S. Carpenter

Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton

A payment of £10 17s. 4d. was authorised, being the amount outstanding in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Tommy Cartman (see 12^th October) who had died of wounds following the action at Contalmaison in July; the amount would be paid to his mother, Mrs. Ellen Rishworth, in accordance with the terms of Tommy’s will, even though he had lived almost all of his life with his maternal aunt and her family.

Pte. Tommy Cartman

A series of articles appeared in the weekly edition of the Craven Herald with news regarding casualties among members of Tunstill’s Company.

PAYTHORNE FARMER'S SON KILLED

Mrs. J. T. Lofthouse, of Paa Farm, Paythorne, has received information that his son, Pte. Anthony Lofthouse (see 30^th October), of the West Riding Regiment, has been killed in action.

Pte. Lofthouse, who was an only son, and 23 years of age, enlisted in Capt. Tunstill's troop in September, 1914, going out to France a year later. He will be much missed in the neighbourhood, for he was of a happy and genial disposition.

Pte. B. Butler (see 10^th October), writing to Mr. Lofthouse, says:- "I am extremely sorry to have to break the news to you. Anthony got killed by a shell in a bombing expedition on October 5th. I feel very much upset about him. We were good pals, and he was greatly respected by all the lads in the company. I shall miss him very much. I saw him buried and got some of his belongings, so I will see you get them. We have had a rough time of it lately, but are out of the trenches now for a rest."

PAYTHORNE - Cr. J. T. Lofthouse's Loss

At the monthly meeting of Bowland Rural Council on Monday a vote of condolence was passed with Mr. J. T. Lofthouse, Paythorne, in the loss of his only son who was killed in France a few weeks ago. In moving the resolution, the Chairman said that if there was any consolation for Mr. Lofthouse, it was the knowledge that his son died in the service of his King and Country. The resolution was seconded by Mr. Gill, and the members signified their approval by standing.

Pte. Anthony Lofthouse

RALPH - In loving memory of Private Christopher Ralph (see 27^th October) of the 10th Duke of Wellington's (W.R.) Regiment, of Hellifield, who was killed in action in France on October 6th 1916.

No mother's care did him attend,

Nor o'er him did a father bend;

No sister there to shed a tear,

No brother by, his words to hear.

Sick, dying, in a foreign land,

No father there to take his hand,

No mother near to close his eyes

Far from his native land he lies.

From Sisters and Brothers, Haw Grove, Hellifield

Pte. Kit Ralph

EARBY MAN MISSING

Pte. Percy Wharton, Duke of Wellington's (7070), has been officially reported missing since September 3rd. Any news of him will be gratefully received by his parents, 8, George Street, Earby. Mr. and Mrs. Wharton have three other sons in the Army - Sergt. Allan Wharton (see 13^th October), in the 10th Duke of Wellington's, and Lance-Corporal Richard Wharton, in the 9th, and another on home service. The two first mentioned have been in France during the greater part of the conflict. A son-in-law, Gunner Frank Whitehead, is serving in India

SKIPTON'S ROLL OF HONOUR - PTE. CHARLIE BRANSTON KILLED

Another fine young Skipton soldier has made the supreme sacrifice - Pte. Charlie Branston (see 12^th October), of the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment, and son of Mrs. Branston, of 27, Brook Street, Skipton. This is Mrs. Branston's second bereavement, her nephew, Pte. T. B. Cartman (see above), who lived with her for many years, having died from wounds in July last. The sad news respecting her son was received on Saturday morning, an official intimation from the War Office stating that he had been killed in action on October 12th. Deceased, who was only 20 years of age, was a fine specimen of manhood, and was nearly six feet in height. Formerly employed at Messrs. Lipton's Ltd., he enlisted with Captain Tunstill's men in September 1914, and went out to France thirteen months ago. He was wounded in July last, but had never been granted a leave since he went to the Front. Deceased and his cousin, Pte. Cartman, were both employed at Messrs. Lipton's Ltd. They enlisted together, did their training together, and were both wounded on July 10th.

Pte. Branston was a member of the Skipton Branch of the National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks, and in a letter to his mother, Mr. George L. Haigh, secretary of the local Branch, writes:- "It is with the regret of myself and all the members of the above Branch that I offer you my deepest sympathy in the loss of your gallant son in action. It seems hard lines that after being so long in France he should meet the same fate as Tom, but I sincerely hope you will bear up in your loss. He was one of the best of men to work with either at business or for the Union. To this I can testify. I can hardly realise it yet, the news coming to me as a great surprise, although I could not understand not hearing from him for over three weeks."

Pte. Charlie Branston

SEDBERGH - MEMORIAL SERVICE

There was a large congregation at St. Andrew's Church on Wednesday week, when a service was held in memory of Sergeant Harry Lyddington Mason (see 25^th October) and Private Harry Clemmett, who have fallen in the war. The Vicar (Rev. A. H. Walker) took the major portion of the service, and the lesson was read by Rev. H. F. Donaldson Selby. The special hymns were 'The Son of God goes forth to war', 'Lead Kindly Light', and 'Peace, prefect peace'. At the conclusion of the service the organist, Mr. A.E. Thorne, played the 'Dead March'.

Sgt. Harry Lyddington Mason

There was also news of other men of the Company.

AUSTWICK

Home on Leave

Cpl. Fred Swale (see 23^rd October) of the 10^th service battalion Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment reached home on Sunday morning on six days’ leave. Cpl. Swale enlisted in September 1914, being one of Captain Tunstill’s hundred, and was in training in the south of England for eleven months. In August 1915, along with his Battalion, he left for France. He has seen fourteen months hard fighting, and has been in many stiff encounters, but is in the best of health and very bright and cheerful.

Cpl. Fred Swale

ADDINGHAM - NEWS FROM SOLDIERS

Private William Dixon (see 13th October), writing from No. 2 Convalescent Camp, Rouen, says:- "I was sorry to hear about W. Waggitt's death (see 27^th October) ; R. Smith (see 13^th October) told me about him; they were both together when he got killed and Smith got wounded. I was wounded the day before. I don't think the war will last much longer, and the sooner it is over the better. We go down to Rouen nearly every day to the football matches or the pictures. We have a very good football team."

L.Cpl. Willie Waggitt

Pte. Reuben Smith