2421 Pte John Pomeroy, 5th Bn, York & Lancs Regt

2421 Private John Pomeroy of the 5th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment was killed in action on the 23rd November 1915. He was the son of John and Edith Pomeroy of 167 St Anne's Road, Rotherham and he is buried in Bard Cottage Cemetery, Ypres. John's army number indicates that he joined the 5th Battalion in September 1914.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

38307 Pte Willie Hammond, 10th York & Lancs Regt

38307 Private Willie Hammond of the 10th Battalion, York & Lancs Regiment, was killed in action on the 15th November 1916, one of 738 British Army officers and men to die on this date. He had previously served with the 15th West Yorkshire Regiment (number 15/420). He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

6031 Pte Willis Ormerod, 5th Bn, York & Lancs Regt

6031 Private Willis Ormerod of the 5th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, died of wounds in England on the 30th September 1916. He had previously served with the West Riding Regiment (number 5449). At the time of his enlistment at Halifax, Willie was living in Todmorden. He was 26 years old, the son of Mrs Sarah Ormerod, of 106 Burnley Road Todmorden, and he is buried in St Paul's Church Cemetery at Cross Stone, Yorkshire.

Surviving service papers show that Willis was conscripted into the 3/4th Battalion, West Riding Regiment on the 4th April 1916, was posted to the 1/4th Battalion on the 11th August that year, and was transferred to C Company of the 1/5th York & Lancs Regiment on the 3rd September.

Papers dating to September 1920 reveal that Willis was unmarried and that his father was John Marshall - address unknown. Willis had no full blood brothers or sisters but did have four half brothers: John Arthur Ormerod, Greenwood Ormerod, Albert Ormerod and Ernest Ormerod; all of these men in their thirties and forties by September 1920.

Willis was wounded on the 20th September 1916 (gunshot wound to the spine) and after spending time at the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station and the 13th General Hospital in Boulogne, was transferred to England aboard the St Omer Hospital Ship on the 25th. He died at the Norfolk War Hospital five days later; the cause of death noted as septicaemia and heart failure.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC, WO 363)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Loos - Day 2 - 16488 Pte John Bramwell, 10th Bn, York & Lancs Regt

16488 Private John Bramwell of B Company, the 10th Battalion, York & Lancs Regiment, died of wounds on the 26th September 1915. He was born in Fir Vale, Sheffield and enlisted at Sheffield on the 8th November 1914. He was a miner by trade, 37 years old.

Originally posted to the the regimental depot, he was transferred to the 10th Battalion on the 13th November.

Reported wounded and missing on the 26th September, this was subsequently updated to "died of wounds between the 26th and 29th September" and later acknowledged that he died of wounds on the 26th.

At the time of his death he was 38 years old. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

242135 Pte William Clack, 1/5th Bn, York & Lancs Regt

242135 Private William Clack of the 1/5th Battalion, York & Lancs Regiment, died of wounds on the 9th July 1918. He was the son of Walter and Annie Clack, of Sheffield and is buried in Hagle Dump Cemetery in Belgium.


At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

46209 Pte James Mitton, 13th Bn, York & Lancs

I was a day ahead of myself yesterday, consequently here's what I should have written:

46209 Private James Mitton of the 13th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, was killed in action on the 28th June 1918. He was born in Burnley and had formerly served with the West Yorkshire Regiment (number 41906).

James was 20 years old when he died. He was the son of Mr M Mitton of 2 Rectory Road, Burnley and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

200881 Sgt Henry Himsworth, 1/4th Bn, York & Lancs Regt

200881 Sergeant Henry Himsworth of C Compnay, the 1/4th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, died as a result of a gunshot wound to the pelvis on the 8th June 1919. He was 30 years old, the only son of Mr John Wilfred Himsworth of 99 Bradley Street, Crookes.

The 1901 census shows Henry as a 12 year old boy living at 99 Bradley Street with his parents (both aged 39) and three sisters. His father's trade is recorded as "razor grinder" whilst his older sister Lucy - 16 years old in 1901 - was working as in a silver warehouse.

Henry's service record survives in the WO 363 series at the National Archives, and the following information is taken from this. He volunteered with the 4th York and Lancs on the 8th November 1914 and was given the service number 2726. His home address was the one mentioned above.

Henry was posted to the 2/4th Battalion on 13th April 1915 and then back to the 1/4th on the 27th June. He was appointed acting corporal on the 13th June 1917 and acting paid lance-sergeant on the 10th October 1917. He was promoted to acting paid sergeant nine days later, and then to full sergeant in December 1917. By now, his old Territorial Force number would have been replaced with 200881.

Two days after he had been posted back to the 1/4th Battalion, Henry had sailed for France, arriving there on the 29th June 1915. There is no indication on his service record that he returned to England at any point, but a gunshot wound to his thigh is noted.

Henry was captured on the 13th October 1918 and later repatriated to London in January 1919. From the 10th to the 18th January he was in King George Hospital, London and was then transferred immediately to Wharncliffe War Hospital in Sheffield. At the time of his transfer there was "practically no movement in [his] knee or hip." An operation was found necessary in May 1919 and it appears that septicaemia soon followed. He died as a result of what must have been a long and painful wound, and septicaemia. The time of death was recorded as quarter past nine in the morning and his parents were at his bedside when he died. Medical records in his file give his age as 28 and his religion as Wesleyan. He is buried in Sheffield (Crookes) Cemetery.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC, 1901 census, BMD registers, WO 363)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

8398 Cpl Alfred Beetles, 2nd Bn, York & Lancs Regt

8398 Corporal Alfred Beetles of D Company, the 2nd Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, died of wounds on the 24th January 1915. Alfred was a regular soldier who was born in Holy Trinity, Bradford and who joined the York and Lancs Regiment at Pontefract in early 1906. At the time he joined up he was living in Bradford and already serving with the militia. He was five feet, five and a quarter inches tall.

Alfred enlisted for three years with the Colours and nine on the Reserve and he certainly spent time in Quetta and Karachi. Whilst overseas, he was also hospitalised as a result of malaria.

At the time of his death, Alfred was unmarried. His parents are recorded as George Forbes Beetles and Emma Beetles of 305a Leeds Road, Bradford. He also had one brother and five sisters. He is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, WO 363)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

7533 Pte Stephen Charles Sadgrove, 2nd Bn, York & Lancs Regt

7533 Pte Stephen Charles Sadgrove of the 2nd Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, was killed in action on the 17th January 1915. He was a Londoner, born in Hoxton, and had enlisted with the York and Lancs as an eighteen-year-old. That was back on the 1st December 1903 at Stratford, east London. He stood five feet eight and a half inches tall, had a fresh complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He had a small scar on the back of his neck.

Stephen enlisted for the then general terms of service of three years with the Colours and nine on the Reserve. He would have therefore just been approaching the end of that long period on the Reserve when he was recalled to the Colours at Pontefract on the 4th August 1914.

During his short time with the Colours he appears to have served only in the UK. He had been appointed lance-corporal in October 1904 but been deprived of this stripe in June 1905.

Stephen Sadgrove was killed at Chapelle D'Armentieres and he is buried in the old military cemetery there. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that he was the son of Joseph and Maude Sadgrove of London. He also had a sister, Daisy Sadgrove, who appears to have been the only surviving member of the Sadgrove family by 1919. Joseph Sadgrove had died in 1900 and thus been spared the news of learning that his son had been killed. Maud Sadgrove though, was not so fortunate and died in 1916 at the age of 67.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, WO 363)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

202495 Pte William Unwin, 2/4th Bn, York & Lancs

202495 Private William Unwin of the 2/4th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, was killed in action on the 11th January 1918. He is buried in Roclincourt Military Cemetery in France. Regrettably, I know nothing further about this man.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

8513 Pte Arnold Balmforth, 2nd Bn,York & Lancs Regt

8513 Pte Arnold Balmforth of the 2nd Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, was killed in action on the 21st December 1915. He was 29 years old and the son of John Balmforth.

Arnold was born in Rossington, Doncaster and enlisted in Doncaster on 9th October 1906. He is buried in La Brique Military Cemetery No 2 in France. His partial service record survives in the WO 363 series at the National Archives (and also on Ancestry).

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

39780 L/Cpl Lewis Losh, 1st Bn, York and Lancaster Regt

39780 Lance-Corporal Lewis Losh of the 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regt, died of wounds on the 30th October 1916. He was 24 years old and the son of Lewis and Margaret Losh of 25, Athol Street, Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire.

Lewis was born at St. Helens, Lancashire and enlisted at Earlestown. Soldiers Died in The Great War indicates that he had formerly served with the Lancashire Hussars and had the number 732. Fortunately, papers from Lewis's service record survive at the National Archives, and the following information is taken from these.

Lewis joined the Lancashire Hussars Yeomanry on the 6th December 1911. He was 20 years and five months old, and working as a labourer. The address he gave is the one mentioned above. He was embodied on the 5th August 1914 and appointed paid lance-corporal on the 6th May 1916.

On the 3rd September 1916, Lewis was transferred to the 3rd Battalion of the Liverpool Regiment (and given the new number 55578) and then, 13 days later, posted to the base depot of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. On the 22nd October 1916 he was transferred to the 1st Battalion, York and Lancs Regiment. Eight days later he died of wounds.

Lewis's service record is quite badly water-damaged and difficult to read in places. His name is mis-recorded as Lawrence Losh in places and there is also a note from his commanding officer (dated 21st December 1916) that he was killed in action and buried in the cemetery at Haznatar in what was then Salonica, but is now Greece.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that Lewis is now buried in Struma Military Cemetery in Greece and that:

"In the autumn of 1916, the 40th Casualty Clearing Station was established not far from the road near the 71 Kilometre stone and the cemetery made for it was originally called Kilo 71 Military Cemetery. The original plot, Plot I, was set too close to a ravine and the graves in it were moved after the Armistice to the present plots VIII and IX. The remainder of the cemetery consists almost entirely of graves brought in from the battlefields, from the churchyards at Homondos, Haznatar and Kalendra, and from small front line cemeteries established by field ambulances or fighting units. The most significant of these were Ormanli, Dolab Wood and Big Tree Well. Struma Military Cemetery contains 947 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 51 of them unidentified. There are also 15 war graves of other nationalities."

My italics and bold.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, WO363)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission