LANCE CORPORAL 13797 JOHN WESLEY AMOS, 10th BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT.
LANCE
CORPORAL 13797 JOHN WESLEY AMOS, 10th BATTALION WEST RIDING REGIMENT. KILLED IN
ACTION 20th SEPTEMBER 1917, AGED 33
A Coy, 10th West
Riding Regiment. Courtesy Bill Smith, Tunstills Men
In late August 1914, Jack Amos, an accountant
from Rhyl was staying with his married sister who lived at Bron Haul on St
James Road in Ilkley. In the final week of that month, the town had been swept
by an army recruitment drive which had culminated in the formation of an Ilkley
'Pals Company'. Places in this unit had been strictly limited and this left
many local men desperate to find a unit which would allow then to enlist as
volunteers. A certain H G Tunstill of Otterburn had called for a company of men
to be formed in the nearby Craven District and in early September a group of
about 20 men set out from Ilkley for neighbouring Addingham to enlist in what
was to become 'Tunstills Men'. Jack Amos was one of these volunteers, for
instead of returning to his native North Wales to enlist he chose, for reasons
that we do not know, to join what would become 'A' Company of the 10th West
Riding Regiment.
This company, recruited from the small
villages of Airedale and Wharfedale, came together in Grassington before moving
to the south of England to complete its training. In August 1915 the 10th West
Riding Regiment regiment arrived in France and jack, now a lance Corporal was
assigned as 'batman' to one of the company's officers, Lieutenant Robert
Ingham. Jack was clearly highly regarded by the officer who wrote in letters
home of his high regard for his servant.
Robert Ingham would transfer into the Royal
Flying Corps in 1916 and at about the same time, Jack, and perhaps a reflection
of his age was assigned to a unit of the Royal Engineers. In the late summer of
1917 he returned to the 10th West Ridings just as it was preparing for a new
assault in the Ypres sector.
The battalion was to take part in an attack on
the Westhoek Ridge, which had originally been an objective on the first day of
the Battle of Passchendaele. In the early hours of the 20th September, the West
Riding's moved into their assembly trenches in readiness for the assault. At
first confusion marred the attack, they were heavily shelled and suffered many
casualties. Nevertheless, by about 10am the battalion moved into No Mans Land
behind a creeping barrage provided by the Royal Artillery. Despite of heavy
German artillery fire and the attentions of the ever present enemy machine guns
the battalion successfully achieved its objective. However, casualties were
heavy and the west Ridings suffered over 300 casualties. Jack was one of those
men who failed to return and was presumed killed.
Sadly, Lance Corporal Jack Amos has no known
grave and today he is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Tyne Cot.
He is also remembered with pride on the war memorials in his home town of Rhyl
as well as here in Ilkley.
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