Ilkley in The First World War

PRIVATE 10/2745 GEORGE LESLIE RENTON, 6TH WELLINGTON INFANTRY BATTALION, NEW ZEALAND INFANTRY FORCE. KILLED IN ACTION 17TH SEPTEMBER 1916 . George Lister Renton left his native Yorkshire aged 20 years in 1904 and, sailed half way across the world in the hope of a new life in New Zealand. Born in Bolton Abbey his father, George, was a police constable who eventually came to live at a house called Hollingfield on Ash Grove, Ilkley.  Settling in Wellington he worked for a timber  merchants, McLeod, Weir and Hopkins and lived at 21, Kilbinnie Street until he joined the Wellington Infantry Regiment in 1915. Enlisting in the 6th battalion in April 1915 it was over 12 months before George landed in France. Now transferred to the 1st Battalion Wellington Infantry, part of the New Zealand Division, his was posted to the Somme area. He was killed as his battalion took part in the battle of Flers on 17th September 1916 and his body was never recovered. Private George Renton

2ND LIEUTENANT EDWIN ARTHUR FIELD, 9TH BATTALION WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION, 14TH SEPTEMBER 1916, AGED 23. Edwin Arthur Field was the youngest son of Charles Field who owned a string of cafes and grocers across Yorkshire that traded under the name of H. Field and son Ltd. Born in Sculcoates near Hull in 1893 but brought up in Bridlington, Edwin attended the towns grammar school and after the completion of his education joined his father and elder brother in the family business. His mother Rosa died before the war and his father appears to have tak en up residence firstly at Middleton Villas in Ilkley and then at Wharfemead on Stourton Road. At the outbreak of war Edwin enlisted in the Grenadier Guards but within 4 months obtained a commission in the 9th West Yorkshire Regiment. Edwin served at Gallipoli in 1915 with the battalion and then in Egypt in the early part of 1916. The 9th West Yorks. did not arrive in France until July 1916 and was subsequently

CAPTAIN GEORGE EDWARD LISTER HOLROYD, 7 th . BATTALION EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. DIED OF WOUNDS 12 th SEPTEMBER 1916, AGED 35. Born in Shipley in 1881, Lister was the son of Samuel Holroyd who was a worsted manufacturer. His mother Emma, nee Robinson, came from Ilkley where her family manufactured a popular therapeutic chair. The Robinsons also owned a large house next to the famous moors above Ilkley called Hangingstone, which they ran as a boarding house. In the 1880s, the Holroyds brough t their family to live at Hanginstone and Emma took over the boarding house, whilst her brother Mark controlled the chair manufacturing business. Lister was educated at Ilkley Grammar and then went on to study at Bradford Technical School and became an apprentice cabinet maker in the family firm. In his spare time he played for Ilkley RUFC and was sufficiently good enough to represent Yorkshire at county level on three occasions. In 1910 Lister left Ilkley for what was then kno

PRIVATE 3858 MAURICE IDESON, 51ST BATTALION AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY FORCE. KILLED IN ACTION 3RD SEPTEMBER 1916, AGED 27. Joseph Henry Ideson and his wife Mary of Westwood Farm on Parish Ghyll Drive brought up two sons who would both die in the First World War. Their first son, Maurice, had left Ilkley before the war and settled in Perth, Western Australia. Employed as a ships steward, he married a local girl in 1914 and lived at 182 Lake Street, in the north of the city. On 23th November 19 15, Maurice enlisted in the Australian Infantry Force and was posted to the 28th Battalion. Three months later he boarded the HMAT Miltiades and sat sail for Europe. Landing in Marseilles he was assigned to the newly formed 51st Battalion which arrived in the Somme sector in June 1916.  On 3rd September 1916 the 51st took part in an attack against a German stronghold known at Moquet Farm near to Thiepval. Initially successful the Australians were subject to a concerted German counter att

CAPTAIN JAMES LESLIE ODDY, 1/ 6 th BATTALION WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. DIED OF WOUNDS, 3RD SEPTEMBER 1916, AGED 22. James Leslie Oddy came from an extremely wealthy and influential family who had been involved in politics in the Bradford area since the 1840's. His father Sir John James Oddy owned a large woollen and worsted mill in Birkenshaw and had been elected Conservative MP for the Pudsey Division in 1908. Originally from East Bierley they had moved to Ilkley before the war and took up residence at Th e Old Hall, which is off Wells Road. James attended Roscoe's School,a small prep school in Harrogate and then went as a boarder to Public School at Repton. As the only son of the family he was expected to learn the wool trade and duly went to work for his fathers firm. In June 1912 he also obtained a commission in the 1/6th West Yorkshire Regiment, known as 'The Bradford Territorial’s'. At the outbreak of the war the battalion was mobilised and James

2nd LIEUTENANT KENNETH MALLORIE PRIESTMAN, 105TH FIELD COMPANY ROYAL ENGINEERS. KILLED IN ACTION 31ST AUGUST 1916, AGED 25. Kenneth Mallorie Priestman lived with his family in a large house in Ilkley called Hollin Grange on Grove Road. His wealthy father, Edward Priestman, owned the enormous worsted mill, in the Manningham area of Bradford, that bore his family name. The Priestmans were also committed Quakers and pacifists and sent their sons first to Ghyll Royd in Ilkley and then to  the well known Quaker School, Bootham, at York. Kenneth continued his education at Leeds University and graduated with an honours degree in engineering in 1912. He was employed by British Thomson Houston in Rugby, before returning to work with his father in 1914. In June 1915 Kenneth joined the Friends Ambulance Unit which was financed by British Quakers and provided motor ambulances and drivers who ferried wounded men from the front to Base Hospitals. It provided an opportunity for

2ND LIEUTENANT JAMES RUSSELL WHITTAKER. 6TH BATTALION KINGS OWN YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY. KILLED IN ACTION 28TH AUGUST 1916. Records show that 24 year old 2nd Lieutenant James Russell Whittaker was killed in action on 29th August 1916, however, research shows that he was killed the previous day. James was the only son of John Whittaker who was the Conservative Party agent in the Otley Constituency and lived at 15 Alexandra Crescent. Both his parents died when he was quite young and he went to live with a distant relative, George Whitfield, in Oswestry, Shropshire. James attended Oswestry Grammar School and eventually joined Whitfields Auctioneers owned by his relative. In his spare time he was a well known sportsman in Oswestry and also a member of the Shropshire Territorial Battalion. At the outbreak of the war instead of remaining with the territorials he chose to enlist in the Oswestry Pals company of a newly raised battalion, 6th Kings Own Shropshire Light Infantr

2ND LIEUTENANT MARTIN KENION GRAY 6TH BATTALION KINGS OWN YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY. KILLED IN ACTION 28TH AUGUST 1916. On 28th August 1916 the 6th Battalion Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry were in the front line near to Delville Wood in the Somme Sector. At 4.45pm, relative peace was shattered by an intense German artillery bombardment which hit the forward British trenches. All 5 officers from 'Y' company were in the officers dugout when it took a direct, hit burying its  occupants. Despite the efforts of rescuers the officers were killed, including 2nd Lieutenant Martin Kenion Gray.  Martin was only 19 years of age and had been at the front for a just few weeks. His short military career had begun the previous year when as a student at Leeds University he had joined the Officer Training Corps. Forsaking his studies he applied for a commission and was appointed to the Yorkshire Light Infantry. Born into a relatively affluent middle-class family in Horsforth Ma

SERGEANT 9609, JAMES HENRY VOWLES, 7TH BATTALION RIFLE BRIGADE. KILLED IN ACTION 18TH AUGUST 1916. James Henry Vowles enlisted in the Rifle Brigade in January 1903. He had lied about his age, claiming to be 18 when in fact he was only 16 years old. For the next 9 years he served across the British Empire in both Egypt and India, although, he does not seem to have had an exemplary record. Born in Halifax he did not return to the home of his family but came to Ilkley to work f or the General Post Office. He may have had some training in telegraphy and possibly spent some time with the Post Office in Finsbury Park in London.  On the 11th April 1914 James was back in Ilkley when he married Nellie Pease of 1 Victory Road, at Ilkley Parish Church and together they set up home at 3 Sunset Terrace off Leeds Road. Although, James had left the army he was still a member of the reserve and at the beginning of the war was recalled by his regiment and posted to the 5th Reserve

SERGEANT 6/4546 CLARENCE ATKINSON 1/6TH BATTAILION WEST RIDING REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION 18TH AUGUST 1916 AGED 25 On 18th August 1916 Sargeant Clarence Atkinson was in the front line near Authuille, in the Somme area, with his battalion the 6th Duke of Wellingtons Regiment. For several days they had been subject to periodic enemy artillery shelling and had suffered a number casualties. At 5.20pm British Artillery began shelling the German front lines who retaliated with a brief mor tar attack. Clarence was taking cover in a trench when a shell struck the parapet nearby and buried him. Despite the best efforts of his comrades when eventually dug out he was found to be dead.  Clarence had joined the army in 1915 when he enlisted in Skipton. Quickly promoted he had only been at the front for two months when he was killed aged 25.   Born in Monk Fryston Clarence had worked as a signalman for the North Eastern Railway before joining the police. Standing at over 6' 2

BATTERY SERGEANT MAJOR 44493, CLAUDE WILLIAM GRAVELL, 'C' BATTERY, 116TH BRIGADE, ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY. KILLED IN ACTION 11th AUGUST 1916 Photographs of Claude's grave by kind permission of Keith Roberts Before the outbreak of WW1 Claude William Gravell had worked at Beanlands grocers on Brook Street. A native of Goole he had previously worked in Hackney in London before moving to Ilkley. He enlisted in the Royal Horse Artillery in Leeds in 1914 and was posted to the 116th Brigade which was attached to the 26th Division. The division was sent to France in September 1915, b ut a couple of months later was ordered to northern Greece to assist the Serbian Army in its fight against the Bulgarians. The British intervention was too late as the Serbian Army had been all but wiped out. The British set up camp around the town of Salonika, present day, Thessaloniki, and was joined by troops from France, Italy and Russia. This multi-national force was hemmed in by mountains

LANCE CORPORAL JOHN (JACK) ABBOTT KING, 1/10th KINGS LIVERPOOL REGIMENT (LIVERPOOL SCOTTISH). KILLED IN ACTION 9th AUGUST 1916. On the 5th August 1914, the day after the declaration of war, John Abbott King was gathering hay at his farm in Ben Rhydding with his friend Tom Lumb. Whilst the two friend toiled in the fields, a messenger arrived to inform Tom that mobilization meant that must immediately join his regiment of yeomanry cavalry, the Yorkshire Hussars. Making his apologies Tom Lumb made to leave but John, better known as Jack, insisted on accompanying him. The following day Jack presented himself at the recruiting  office of the Yorkshire Hussars and asked that he be allowed to enlist. A deeply unimpressed recruiting officer replied that at only 5'5" Jack was too short to join the Hussars. Jack King was not a man to be trifled with, for not only was he immensely powerful but he was also one of the greatest rugby players ever to wear the white jersey of England.

LIEUTENANT TOM DENTON EDDISON, 19 th BATTALION KINGS LIVERPOOL REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION, 23th JULY 1916 AGED 24. Tom Denton Eddison was born in 1892 in Harrogate, the only son of Joseph and Florence Eddison. By 1901 the family had moved to Ilkley and lived in a large house called Ploverfield on Ben Rhydding Drive. As a child, Tom was sent to board at a small prep school called Charney Hall at Grange-over-Sands until 1904, when he attended Eastbourne College. The Eddison family had in fact moved to Eastbourne in Sussex and the school was the nearest public school. In 1911 Tom went up to Merton College, Oxford and three years later graduated with a second class honours degree in law. At the beginning of the war he volunteered for a public schools battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. These were similar to 'pals' battalions except they only took men who had attended one of the recognised public schools. At this stage of WW1 the War Office believed that men who had attend

SERGEANT WILFRED BLACKBURN. 10TH BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION 29TH JULY 1916 AGED 23 In the early hours of 29th July 1916 the 10th Duke of Wellingtons Regiment made a daring night attack against the German lines near to the village of Fricourt, on the Somme. Under the cover of darkness the Dukes got within a few yards of the enemy trenches before being forced to retire as dawn arrived. The battalion lost many men including Acting Sergeant Wilfred Blackburn. Wilfr ed was not a Yorkshireman by birth, but had been born in Nelson, Lancashire in 1893. By the time he was 11 years old both his parents where dead and the orphaned Wilfred was sent to live with his elderly uncle at West Hall Farm in Nessfield. Wilfred enlisted at the beginning of the war and was posted to France with his battalion in 1915. By the time of his death he had seen much fighting, and his letters home show a young man who was not indifferent to the suffering of both soldiers and civilians.

PRIVATE 6/4204, SAMUEL BENTLEY, 1/6TH BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION 26TH JULY 1916. On 20th April 1915, 17 year old Samuel Bentley entered the recruiting office of the Duke of Wellingtons Regiment in Skipton and enlisted in the 2/6th territorial battalion. Even though he was under age and only 5' 2" in height he could join the army, but was not allowed, because of his age, to serve overseas. The 2/6th were, however, a home service battalion where men who co uld not or would not fight at the front could serve in the army. The battalion was also a place where men would be trained before being assigned to a fighting battalion. Samuel would have been with the 2/6th as they moved around various training camps set up to deal with the vast influx of army volunteers. His 18th birthday was in October 1915, but he remained in Britain until the 6th June 1916, when he landed in France and was posted to the 1/6th Duke of Wellington's Regiment. Within 7 week

PRIVATE 3392A, VICTOR MAXWELL OWSTON, 53RD BATTALION AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY FORCE. KILLED IN ACTION 19TH JULY 1916. Before the war, gardener Victor Maxwell Owston, had come to Ilkley to work for Robert Dalton, who had the post office at 54 Skipton Road, Ilkley. Robert Dalton also had a market garden and sold the produce in his shop. Therefore, he needed someone with Victor's skills grow and provide good quality fruit. Victor was not a native of Ilkley, but had been born in Darri ngton, near Pontefract in 1887. His father, an auctioneer and estate agent, moved his family to the Woodhouse area of Leeds, where Victor was educated. Victor seems to have tired of life in Yorkshire and in May 1912 set sail, aged 25, for a new life in Australia. In Sydney he obtained employment as a waiter at the Union Club on Bligh Street in the city. On 5th August 1915 he went into the recruiting office at Warwick Farm, in the west of Sydney, and joined the Australian Army. In December 1915 he emb

PRIVATE 9598 GEORGE DUELL, 1ST BATTALION NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS. KILLED IN ACTION 14TH JULY 1916 . Although, born in Wakefield in 1884, George Duell had spent most of his childhood in Ilkley. His father, Thomas, was variously a dairy-man, bailliff and farmer and with his large family had lived in different houses in the town before settling in the Old Lodge, Ben Rhydding. George appears to have begun his working life as a saddler but at the age of 20 enlisted in the army. H is chosen regiment was the Northumberland Fusiliers and he was posted to their 1st Battalion who were serving in India. His 9 years of service appears to have been uneventful and he returned to civilian life in 1913. All former regular soldiers had to spend 5-7 years in the reserve and were liable to return to their regiment in time of war. In August 1914 George was recalled to his regiment who were now stationed in Portsmouth. The battalion arrived in France just a few weeks later and George was wounded

LIEUTENANT ERIC BERTRAND RALPH SCOTT, 25TH DIVISIONAL SIGNALS COMPANY ROYAL ENGINEERS. KILLED IN ACTION 10TH JULY 1916. Eric Bertrand Ralph Scott was born in Ilkley on the 8th November 1894. His father, Ralph, was an engineer who lived with his wife Mary at 3, Tarn Villas on Cowpasture Road. Eric was a pupil at Dean Close School in Cheltenham where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps. In 1912, aged 18, he commenced further studies at the Royal School of Mines in Sou th Kensington, now part of Imperial College. Significantly, Eric also joined the Territorial Army, enlisting as a sapper in the London Electrical Engineers. At the commencement of the war his unit was mobilised, however, his experience singled him out as officer material and he received a commission into the Royal Engineers on the 7th January 1915. Eric was posted to a Signals Company attached to the 25th Division in September of the same year. The Signals Company was responsible for laying and maint

LIEUTENANT ERIC MALLINSON, 9TH BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION 7TH JULY 1916. Eric Mallinson was the second son of a well to do woolen merchant and was born in Roundhay, Leeds in 1884. His father died whilst Eric was still a pupil at Sedbergh School. At about this time, the family moved to Ilkley and lived in a house called Ashburn on Parish Ghyll Road. At the age of 20 Eric left Britain and sailed for New Zealand, where he bought a sheep farm in the Canterbu ry District on the South Island. Once there he married a Scottish woman called Helen Rennet and together they had two children. For reasons that are unknown Eric sold the farm in 1912 and decided to head for Canada, crossing from the USA into Quebec in December of that year. His wife and children meanwhile returned to Britain, where they took up residence at 11, Albany Mansions in Battersea, London. Whilst in Canada Eric appears to have undergone some military service in the militia in Vancouver. At th