BATTERY SERGEANT MAJOR 44493, CLAUDE WILLIAM GRAVELL, 'C' BATTERY, 116TH BRIGADE, ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY.


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, but 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 and suffered dreadfully from disease. The operation tied up hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers without any discernible achievement. Occasional attempts were made to breakout including one in early August 1916. The battle known as Horseshoe Hill was a failure and cost several hundred allied lives including 25 year old Sargeant Major Claude Gravell on 11th August. He was buried close to the battlefield but later moved to the British Military Cemetery at Karasouli and is remembered on our memorial in Ilkley







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