LIEUTENANT TOM ELSWORTH ARMISTEAD MC, 2/6th BATTALION WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT (2nd BRADFORD RIFLES).

LIEUTENANT TOM ELSWORTH ARMISTEAD MC, 2/6^th BATTALION WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT (2^nd BRADFORD RIFLES). KILLED IN ACTION 3^rd MAY 1917.

It is fitting that Tom Armistead is remembered on his parent’s grave in Undercliffe Cemetery overlooking Bradford. His father had been a prominent, civil engineer and surveyor in the city and had chosen as his final resting place the grand setting of Undercliffe where he was surrounded by the graves of those other prominent citizens who had done so much ensure the city's prosperity.

Bradford had, like many Northern cities, responded magnificently to the crisis of August 1914. Its mills produced the finest woollen cloth and speedily began spinning the serge that would clothe an army. But Bradford was also a vast reservoir of young men who were needed for the great citizen army required to fight a continental war. Many of the fittest and best educated of these men would rush to enlist in either of the two famous Bradford 'Pals' Battalions. Others would seek to join the city's Territorial Battalion, the 6th West Yorks., the ‘Bradford Rifles'. Any unit would have been proud to have young Tom Armistead in its ranks but he chose the latter.

There was a good reason for Tom's choice, both his older brothers were officers in the Rifles and at the outbreak of war he duly became an officer in the battalion.
Tom Armistead was not born in Bradford, but in the nearby town of Bingley. His father's business acumen was sufficient to provide his family with a comfortable middle-class lifestyle and all his three sons were sent to Lancing College in Sussex. At school Tom excelled at sport but was also sufficiently impressed his teachers to be elected a House Captain and a prefect. In 1914, as his schooling came to a close he was destined to attend Oxford University, however, the declaration of war interrupted this natural progression and instead Tom chose to serve his country.

At the beginning of the war the Armistead's had moved from their home in the village of Foulridge across the border in Lancashire and into Ilkley. They took up residence at the Wells House Hotel next to the moor which overlooked the town. Noted for its hydrotherapy treatments it was popular with a wealthier kind of clientele looking to ease chronic medical conditions. Tom also took rooms in the hotel and played rugby for the local Ilkley Club.
In the immediate weeks and months after the declaration of war, Tom and the Bradford Rifles began the military training that would enable them to assume a front line roll in France. By April 1915, they were ready to go and on the 15th of the month the battalion embarked upon the steamship 'Victoria' for the short crossing to Boulogne.

Throughout the latter part of 1915 and the early months of 1916 the Bradford Rifles took their turn in the front line. Tom clearly excelled in trench warfare and was then promoted to lieutenant and then temporary captain. During the summer and autumn of 1916 Tom commanded a company of the 6th West Yorks. as it fought on the Somme. But the constant periods of action at the front took their toll on Tom's health and he developed synovitis of the knee. In the days before anti-inflammatory drugs the pathway to recovery from this painful condition largely involved rest. Evacuated back to England recuperation for Tom was slow and even the news that he had been awarded the Military Cross was probably scant consolation.

By February 1917 he had recovered sufficiently to return to the Western Front, however, it would not be to his old battalion, the 6th West Yorks., instead he was sent to the newly created 2/6th battalion. Formed in Bradford the battalion was in desperate need of experienced officers and Tom was just the sort of man that this rookie battalion needed but the captaincy he had achieved with the 6th Battalion was not substantiated and he reverted back to Lieutenant.

In May 1917 the 2/6th were in the front line near to Bullecourt preparing for a major attack against the German lines. Expected to attack in 4 separate waves and link with neighbouring units the complexity of the plan was soon overtaken by the reality of the chaos of battle. Tom, an experienced battlefield commander, marshalled his men across no man's land and 'C' company succeeded in reaching the enemy trenches. The rest of the battalion was, unfortunately, unable to replicate this success and Tom and his company soon came under fire from the ever vigilant German artillery. Left without support and as casualties mounted, 'C' Company had no option but to retire. It is not known how Tom Armistead met his end but reports suggest that he was hit in the head by the shrapnel from an enemy shell. Whatever his fate his body was, sadly, never found.

For Tom's grieving father, Richard, the loss of his youngest son provoked feelings of bitterness towards the army and the war office. Although, nearing the end of his own life, Richard repeatedly petitioned the army to recognise that Tom had achieved the rank of Captain and that this should be recognised by them. Despite plaintive letters Richard's request was dismissed out of hand and Tom's rank in death remained lieutenant. 

Today Lieutenant Tom Elsworth Armistead is commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the missing and on the memorial at Foulbridge and the Roll of Honour at Ilkley RUFC. His two older brothers paid for a screen at the entrance of the War Memorial at Lancing College in memory of their brother

                                                           Screen at Lancing College