Thursday 5th July 1917

Billets in the Steenworde area

Another fine day

Over the course of the next few days several large new drafts of men arrived. A number of the men from these drafts have been identified. These were mostly either men who had attested, in locations all over the country, under the Derby Scheme in 1915-16 or men who had been called up under the terms of the Military Service Acts. In both cases they had mostly been mobilized in early 1917. Some had trained in England with 11DWR, but mostly with various Training Reserve Battalions before being posted out to 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples on 17^th June 1917. Pte. Benjamin Thomas Alcraft was a 31 year-old fireman from Shieldfield, near Newcastle-on-Tyne. Pte. John William Antill was a 20 year-old labourer from Derbyshire. Pte. James Herbert Armstrong was a 34 year-old clerk from North Shields. Pte. William Axton was a 19 year-old armature winder from Loughborough. Pte. Harry Bailey (14133) was a 21 year-old labourer from Halifax; he had enlisted in October 1914 and had served with 8DWR from September 1915 until being wounded in September 1916, since when he had remained in England. Pte. Harry Bailey (25198) was a 19 year-old clerk from Bilston. Pte. Harry Bailey (25248) was 32 years old and from Elland, where he had worked as a boot maker and repairer. Pte. John William Baird was a 25 year-old clerk from Ouseburn, Newcastle. Pte. Willis Barker was 19 years old and from Sheffield. Pte. John Barrett was 21 years old and from Newcastle-on-Tyne. Pte. Lewis Batey was a 19 year-old miner from Newcastle. Pte. John Bayliss was a 19 year-old carter from West Bromwich. Pte. John Beresford was 19 years old and from Great Longstone, Derbyshire. Pte. Frank Blakeborough was a 34 year-old joiner from Huddersfield; he was married but had no children. He had originally applied to join the RFC but had been rejected. Pte. Alfred Wightman Bland was 19 years old and from Nottingham. Pte. Nicholson Braddock was a 19 year-old ironworker from Swalwell, near Gateshead. Pte. Harry Bradshaw was a 19 year-old textile worker from Leicester. Pte. George Towler Brown was a 19 year-old farm labourer from Wainfleet. Pte. John Robert Camm was a 22 year-old ‘horseman’ from Nettleham, Lincs. Pte. Arthur Clark (25164) was a 36 year-old brickyard labourer from South Killingholme; he was a married man with three children. Pte. George Carter was 19 years old and from Sneinton, Notts. He had enlisted as a boy soldier (aged 16) in the Leicestershire Regiment in October 1913 and had been transferred to 4^th Training Reserve Battalion (and subsequently to 3^rd and 1^st Training Reserve Battalions) before being posted to France on 17^th June; he had been formally transferred to the West Ridings on 1^st July. His elder brother, John Thomas Carter, had been a pre-war regular soldier and was serving in France with the Grenadier Guards. Pte. Charley Culley was a 23 year-old kennelman from Lincoln; just ten days before departing for France he had married Florence May, who was five months pregnant with their first child. Pte. William Stanley Davies was a 23 year-old shell filler from Kidwelly. Pte. Harold Deighton was a 19 year-old bricklayer from Bridlington. Pte. Thomas Henry Dixon was a 32 year-old stonemason from Cleckheaton; he was married with one daughter. Pte. Arthur William Drane was 19 years old and from Chadwell, Essex. Pte. Harold Draper was a 25 year-old labourer from Rotherham; on 30^th April he had married Ellen Jackson, who was four months pregnant. Pte. Leonard Ealham was a 23 year-old labourer from Halifax. He had enlisted in September 1914 and had served in France with 2DWR from April 1915 until being evacuated to England in July 1915 having been gassed; he had remained in England until having been posted back to France on 15^th June. Pte. John Henry Evison was a 20 year-old ‘horseman’ from Lincolnshire. Pte. John William Farrer was a 19 year-old warehouseman from Bradford. Pte. Frederick Fielden was a 31 year-old barman from Halifax; he was married but had no children. Whilst in training he had spent a month in hospital, suffering from bronchitis and had been absent without leave for 21 days on the expiry of his final embarkation leave; he had been ordered to serve 21 days’ Field Punishment no.2. Pte. Gott Fielding was a 33 year-old warehouseman from Bradford; he was married with three children. Pte. Hugh Flanagan was a 26 year-old labourer from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Pte. William Franklin was a 22 year-old labourer from Tipton; he was a married man with one son. Pte. John Walter Gethen was a 24 year-old carter from Sheffield. Prior to enlisting he had a string of criminal convictions (at least nine) for stealing and drunkenness, starting when he was just 14. He had attested in December 1915 and had been called up in June 1916. He had been reported absent without leave from 91^st Training Reserve Battalion on 8^th November 1916 and had remained absent until being apprehended by the police on 6^th February 1917. He was court-martialled on a charge of desertion but found guilty of the lesser charge of being absent without leave, and sentenced to six months’ detention. Having served half of his sentence he had been released and posted to 89^th Training Reserve Battalion, where he remained until being posted out to France. Pte. David Doughty Glossop was a 25 year-old ‘head horseman’ from Newark. Pte. John James Goodship was a 19 year-old parcels messenger from Bradford. Pte. Charles Grant was 38 years old and married with seven children; he was from Leicester where he had worked for a shoe manufacturer. Pte. William Henry Gray was a 20 year-old farm labourer from Spalding. Pte. George Hartell was 19 years old and from Leicester; he had enlisted in the Leicestershire Regiment as a ‘band boy’ at the age of 15 in April 1913. He had been promoted Lance Corporal in March 1917 but had reverted, at his own request, two months later. Pte. William Hewitt (25172) was a 23 year-old mill operative from Lincoln; he was a married man with one daughter.  Pte. Harry Hey (25170) was a 19 year-old colliery screener from Castleford; his brother, Thomas, had been killed in action in September 1916 while serving with the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Pte. Victor Hillam was a 19 year-old apprentice hairdresser from Eccleshill, Bradford. Pte. Alfred Hirst was 19 years old and from Burton-on-Trent. Pte. Herbert Hirst was a 19 year-old cloth finisher from Huddersfield. Pte. Cyril Hollingsworth was a 21 year-old carter from Sheffield. Pte. Arthur Holden was a 35 year-old woolsorter from Wibsey, Bradford; he was a married man with one son. Pte. Joseph Honeyble was a 27 year-old fish boxwood sawyer from Grimsby; he was a married man with two children. Pte. Raymond Charles Ingleson was a 28 year-old markert gardener from Bradford. Pte. Herbert Jacklin was a 19 year-old waggoner from Brigg, Lincs. Pte. James Jackson was a 37 year-old groom from Shieldfield, near Newcastle-on-Tyne; he was a married man. His only child, James William had died in January aged nine months and his wife was now pregnant with their second child. Pte. Martin Jackson was a 20 year-old mill hand from Huddersfield; he had served in France with 2^nd/5^th DWR between June and September 1916 before being invalided home having been wounded. Pte. Thomas Charles Jaques was a 32 year-old cowman from Crowle. Pte. Arthur Cerenza King was a 26 year-old cycle repairer from Grimsby; he was married, with one daughter. Pte. Charles Knight was a 33 year-old baker from North Wales. Pte. George Herbert Lant was a 37 year-old lithographer from Halifax; he was married with two children. Pte. Leonard Le Lacheur was a 19 year-old clerk from Newcastle (although originally from the Channel islands). Pte. Victor Munnery was a 21 year-old married man from Paddington, London. Pte. William Hay Murdock was a 29 year-old tailor from Leeds; he was a married man with three children.  Pte. Charley Norman was a 19 year-old textile worker from Oadby, Leics. Pte. Claude Wilfred Norman was a 19 year-old hosiery worker from Wigston Magna, Leics. Pte. Philip Pankhurst was a 31 year-old grocer from Surrey; he was a married man, but had no children. Pte. Harold Parsons was a 19 year-old grocer’s assistant from Lincoln. Pte. Frank Patterson was a 30 year-old munitions worker from Newcastle; between March and May he had three times been reported absent without leave from 83^rd Training Reserve Battalion and had served a total of 21 days in detention for his offences. Pte. John Perrin was a 19 year-old milkman from South Carlton, Lincs. Pte. Robert Phillips was a 19 year-old labourer from Barnsley. Pte. Sidney Powdrill was a 25 year-old horseman from Bassingham, Lincs. Pte. Arthur Prestwood was a 20 year-old blacksmith’s striker from Bracebridge, Lincs. He had married in November 1916 when he and his wife, Elsie Briggs, already had a daughter from a previous relationship who had been born on 8^th June 1916, and Elsie was now pregnant with their first child. Pte. Thomas Prince was 19 years old and from New Mills, where he had worked as a machinist for a Bleaching and Dyeing Company. Pte. Gerald Pullen was a 19 year-old textile worker from Bradford. Pte. Frederick Russell (I am unable to make a positive identification of this man). Pte. Stephen Shevill was 19 years old and from Newcastle. Pte. Charles Simmons was a 19 year-old silk comber from Bradford. Pte. William Noel Simpson was a 19 year-old engine cleaner from Grantham. Pte. Ernest Smith (25187) was a 30 year-old carpenter from Bourne, Lincs; he was a married man with one son, Trevor John. Pte. George Stinson was a 20 year-old labourer from Grimsby. Pte. Augustus Edgar Stone was a 35 year-old painter from Haggerston; he was married with two children. Pte. Arthur Tempest was a 37 year-old spinning mill overlooker from Bradford; he was a married man with one daughter. Pte. Arthur Thornton was a 31 year-old bootmaker from Brighouse; he was a married man, though with no children. Pte. Edward Westle was a 24 year-old coal miner from Ashington. Pte. Robert Whitaker was a 34 year-old tram conductor from Bradford; he was married with one daughter. Pte. Sidney Christopher Hugh Williams was a 21 year-old ‘press hand’ from Lutterworth; he had joined the Leicestershire Regiment in April 1916 and had been promoted Lance Corporal in June 1916. However, he had been deprived of his rank and demoted to Private in January 1917. The reason for his demotion was stated to have been, “Disobedience of Army Orders, in that he communicated direct with the War Office”. On 9^th December 1916 he had written to the War Office asking to be posted to active service: “In view of the present crisis I wish to offer my services as I think I am fit and do not see why I should be kept here to do clerical work. My height is 5’ 0” and I think I should be doing a lot more in the new Tanks than sitting in an office doing nothing but writing and wasting time”. Pte. William Wills was a 31 year-old motor driver from Warrington; he was married with two children. Pte. Thomas Henry Wood was a 19 year-old under gardener from Repton. Pte. Sidney Wood was a 19 year-old miner from Castleford.

There are also a small number of men known to have been among these drafts, but for whom it has not been possible to make a positive identification. They were Ptes. Joseph Formby, William Green (25220), Frank Knott, Samuel Slone, Sydney Daniel Stamper and James Matthew Willey.

Also joining with this draft was Pte. James Allen (see 19^th June); he had originally been due to join 10DWR six weeks earlier, but had spent some time in hospital.

Pte. John Edward Atkinson (see 13^th November 1916) was admitted 69^th Field Ambulance and 2^nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station to 11^th General Hospital at Camiers; he was suffering from a carbuncle to his neck.

Pte. Milton Wood (see 17^th June 1916) reported sick and was admitted to 69^th Field Ambulance and from there transferred to 4^th General Hospital at Camiers; the nature of his illness is unclear.

Pte. Smith Stephenson Whitaker (see 7^th June), who, on 7^th June, had suffered wounds to both legs, was transferred from 56^th General Hospital at Etaples to 6^th Convalescent Depot, also at Etaples. 

Brig. Genl. Lambert (see 28^th June) went on leave to England; he would return on 15^th July.

Pte. William Frederick Ackrill (see 19^th April), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was posted back to France and would join 2DWR.

Three original members of Tunstill’s Company, Sgt. William Edmondson Gaunt (see 10^th May), LCpl. Christopher Longstaff (see 22^nd June) and Cpl. Fred Swale (see 18^th May) all reported to begin their officer training courses. Gaunt reported to no.2 Officer Cadet Battalion at Cambridge and Longstaff and Swale to no.6 Officer Cadet Battalion at Balliol College, Oxford.

Cpl. Fred Swale

Image by kind permission of Joan Rigg and family

Capt. James Watson Paterson, arrived in France, en route to join 10DWR. Born in Edinburgh in 1889, he was the son of Thomas Watson Paterson, who was a teacher. He had joined the Scots Guards following the outbreak of war and been posted to France on 25^th May 1915 with 2^nd Battalion, but was discharged on appointment to a temporary commission with 11DWR on 23^rd July 1915. He was promoted Lieutenant with effect from 1^st May 1916 and Captain on 1^st September 1916, whilst, it seems serving with a Training Reserve Battalion. He had been transferred away from the Training Reserve on 3^rd June.

Pte. Lewis Walton (see 17^th June), serving with 1DWR in India, was discharged from hospital in Gharial, following treatment for scabies.

2Lt. Thomas Arnold Woodcock (see 4^th June), who had served with the Battalion for only three weeks before reporting sick on 7^th April, appeared before a Medical Board at 2^nd Western General Hospital in Manchester. The Board reported the details of his illness and found that, “he still has pain after ordinary food and he is constipated. The general condition has improved. Not necessary to appear before same Medical Board”. He was recommended a two weeks’ stay at an officer’s convalescent hospital before then being posted to light duties at home.