PRIVATE 13877 ERNEST CHAPMAN, 9th BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT (ILKLEY PALS COMPANY).


PRIVATE 13877 ERNEST CHAPMAN, 9th BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT (ILKLEY PALS COMPANY). DIED OF WOUNDS 4th JANUARY 1916.


Ernest Chapman was the first Ilkley man to be killed in 1916. Born in the town he was baptised on Christmas day 1896 at All Saints Parish Church. His father was a porter at Ilkley Railway Station and with his family lived at 16 Middleton Road. After leaving school young Ernest obtained a position as a clerk with a firm in Leeds. In August 1914 Ernest,despite being only 17 years old and thus under age, enlisted with the Ilkley Pals Company of the 9th Duke of Wellingtons Regiment. In December 1915, now a corporal, he came home on leave returning to his unit on Christmas Eve. On January 9th the battalion was just out of the line at Ypres when a stray shell exploded near to a building where Ernest was standing. The explosion caused wounds to his chest and legs and he was moved down the line to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died a short time later. Ernest was just 19 years of age. Today he lies in the British Military Cemetery at Ljissenthoel and is remembered on Ilkley War Memorial


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