William MOSLEY

15 June 1917

MOSLEY – June 2nd 1917, killed in action on the Western Front, Gunner Mosley, R.F.A., husband of Mrs. Mosley, Buckler Hill, Farnhill, aged 40 years.

15 June 1917

FARNHILL – GUNNER MOSLEY KILLED

On Friday morning last Mrs. William Mosley, Buckler Hill, Farnhill, received the following letter from France, written by one of her husband’s comrades:– “Dear Madam, – Just a few lines to let you know of the sad death of your husband. I daresay by this time you will have received the fatal news. I tender my greatest sympathy, and that of all the boys in this battery, to you and his dear children. He died for a just and noble cause and fell at duty’s call. He was buried decently and reverently, I myself being one of six gunners to dig his grave in a cemetery by the crossroads out here. We laid him to rest last Sunday evening and to-day (June 4th) I have been down to put a cross on his grave with the inscription:– “R.I.P. Killed in Action. Gunr. Mosley, W. No. 165037, ----- Brigade, R.F.A., June 2nd, 1917.

“So long as we are here you may rest assured that I shall see his grave is well looked after. He was liked by all the boys, being a quiet, steady man. I am a married man myself and can sympathise with you in every way. Believe me, Yours in sympathy, GUNNER E. MOORE.”

Gunner Mosley, before joining the Army, worked at the sud ponds at Sutton Mill. He was one of the bellringers at St. Andrew’s Church, Kildwick, from being a boy, and a member of the Bellringers Association. As a token of respect, the Church bells were muffled and rung on Saturday afternoon, and again on Sunday morning. In the evening they were half-muffled. He was 40 years of age and leaves a widow and five children.

06 July 1917

KILDWICK – MEMORIAL SERVICE

A memorial service was held in the St. Andrew’s Church on Sunday for Gunner Wm. Mosley, who was killed in France. The service was conducted by the Rev. C.E.V. Hodge, M.A. The organist, Mr. George Spencer, played ‘O Rest in the Lord’ as a voluntary. Appropriate hymns were sung, and at the conclusion of the service the Dead March in ‘Saul’ was played. The Vicar said that such men as this, who had nobly died for his country, were doing so for the children of the nation. He urged that everything possible should be done to preserve the child life of the nation, which is our greatest asset. He advocated the opening of crèches, and of schools for mothers, urging that ignorance is the chief cause of the appalling waste of infant life of the country.