Friday 1st November 1918

In billets at Casa Dal Cin on the Pianzano to Baver road.

The British advance was halted temporarily on the line of the River Livenza to allow for supplies and the artillery to be brought forward. The Battalion was at one hours’ notice to move as the Division was in Corps Reserve.

Pte. John William Berry (see 29^th October) died of wounds suffered three days previously; he would be buried at Giavera British Cemetery, Arcade.

Pte. James Pidgeley (see 27^th October) was discharged from the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albano and posted to the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia.

Pte. George William Ball (see 30^th October) was transferred from 57^th General Hospital in Marseilles to 16^th Convalescent Depot, also in Marseilles. 

Cpl. George Henry Hansford MM (see 13^th September), serving in France with 1^st/6^th DWR, was wounded in action, suffering a “small bullet wound, upper 1/3^rd left leg”; he would be admitted to 20^th General Hospital in Camiers before being evacuated to England on 10^th November. On arrival he would be admitted to the Northants War Hospital in Duston. His wound was found to be “dry and healthy” and an X-ray confirmed that he had suffered no broken bone.

Pte. Herbert Newton (see 27^th August), who had been reported missing in action in July while serving in France with 5DWR, was officially reported as being a prisoner of war in German hands; he had originally been held at Friedrichsfeld Camp before being transferred to a camp at Crossen.

Sgt. John William Dickinson (see 20^th May) was discharged from hospital in Rouen, following treatment for gonorrhoea, and posted to ‘I’ Infantry Base Depot at Etaples.

Pte. Albert John Start (see 31^st July), serving in England with the Non-Combatant Labour Corps, was posted to 360^th Reserve Employment Company, based at Ripon.

Pte. Joseph Chandler (see 6^th October), serving at Northern Command Depot at Ripon, was formally transferred to Army Reserve Class P. This classification of the reserve had been introduced in October 1916 and applied to men “whose services were deemed to be temporarily of more value to the country in civil life rather than in the Army”. He was to take up employment as a miner at Manvers Main Colliery, Wath, near Rotherham. He was also awarded an army (details unknown) on account of his wounds.

Pte. Jesse Eli Lemon was formally discharged from the Army as no longer fit for service due to wounds; he had served with 10DWR, but in the absence of a surviving service record it has not been possible to establish any details of his service with the Battalion. He was 36 years old and married had enlisted in December 1915. Prior to joining the Army he had been working as a gardener in Huddersfield, although he was originally from Surrey.

Pte. Harry Walsh (see 14^th September), who had been wounded on 6^th June 1917, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer fit for service due to wounds; he was awarded a pension of 8s. 3d. per week, to be reviewed in six months’ time.

A payment of £2 7s. 9d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Fred Hargreaves (20214) (see 30^th May), who had been officially missing in action since 1^st October 1917; the payment would go to his widow, Phyllis, for herself and their two children.

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald reported news of the death of Sgt. Richard Wharton; he was the younger brother of Sergt. Allan Wharton (see 12^th October), who had been one of Tunstill’s orginal volunteers but was now serving with the Northumberland Fusiliers. A third brother, Percy, had been missing, presumed dead, since September 1917.

EARBY - A Third Bereavement

Sergeant Richard Wharton, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, killed in France on October 12^th, was the second son lost in the war by Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wharton, 8 George Street, Earby, who have also lost a son-in-law. Sergt. Wharton, who was 27 years of age and unmarried, enlisted immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, and had spent three years and four months on the Western Front. Three other sons and a son-in-law are still in the ranks, one of these (Sergeant Allan Wharton) being in France. Amongst the letters of sympathy received by the bereaved family is one from Second-Lieutenant Honeyman, who writes:- "Sergeant Wharton was our company Lewis gun sergeant, and was attached to my platoon. He was a brave soldier, who never shirked his duty - far from it. He was always keen about his work and encouraged many of our young recruits to take a deep interest in Lewis gunnery. He was buried at Neuvilly." Sergeant Wharton was formerly employed by Messrs. A. J. Birley Ltd., Albion Shed.