Tom Dixon STOCKS

23 March 1917

SILSDEN SOLDIER’S PROMOTION

Pte. Tom D. Stocks, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. James J. Stocks, of Airedale Villa, Silsden, has been gazetted Second-Lieutenant and is attached to the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment stationed at North Shields. Second-Lieutenant Stocks joined the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry as a Private in April, 1915, and had been in training at Rumgally Camp, Cupar, Fifeshire. Scotland. In November last he went to Lichfield to take a four months’ course of training for the higher rank which he has been successful in gaining. He is nearly 21 years of age, and was educated at the Bradford Grammar School. Prior to enlisting he was in the employ of his father, who carries on business as a manufacturer at Becks Mill, Silsden. He was formerly assistant scoutmaster of the Parish Church Troop. His elder brother also holds the rank of Second-Lieutenant in the army.

16 November 1917

SILSDEN

SCOUTS’ ROLL OF HONOUR

The following is a list of the Boy Scouts connected with the Silsden Parish Church Troop serving in the Army and Navy:– Scoutmaster Tom Ayrey, Sam Bancroft, Geoffrey Barrett, Tom B. Wilkinson, James Fry, Harold Newnes, Frank Steel, Lawrence Galvin, Edward Galvin (discharged), Duncan Wade, Jack Crossley, Ottewell Lodge, Frank Shackleton, Tom Stocks (Second-Lieutenant), Tom Shackleton, Ernest Bottomley, Edward Saddington, Ernest Shackleton, Fred Bancroft (Military Medal), Willie Bancroft, Tom Cooke, Harold Middleton, Cyril Riley, Alfred Spencer, Oswald Hill, Isaac Webster, Rowland Hill (killed), Norman Phillip (killed), Ernest, Hardcastle (killed), and David Mason (killed).

19 April 1918

STOCKS – Died of wounds, April 16th, Sec. Lieut. Tom D. Stocks, West Riding Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.I. Stocks, Airedale Villa, Silsden, aged 21.

19 April 1918

CRAVEN AND THE WAR

Second-Lieut. T.B. Stocks Dies of Wounds

We regret to announce that Second-Lieut. Tom D. Stocks, of the West Riding Regiment, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. James I. Stocks, of Airedale Villa, Silsden, died from wounds in France on April 16th. Second-Lieutenant Stocks joined the Westmoreland and Cumberland Yeomanry as a private in April, 1915, and received training at Rumgally Camp, Cupar, Fifeshire, Scotland, in November 1916, he went to Lichfield to take a four months course of training for the higher rank which he was successful in gaining. He was only 21 years of age and was educated at the Bradford Grammar School.

07 May 1918

SILSDEN’S FALLEN HEROES – Impressive Memorial Service

A service in memory of the gallant Silsden young men, who have recently given their lives for our country, was held at the Parish Church on Sunday morning last. There was a large congregation, and the service was conducted by Rev. E.E. Peters (vicar). Mr. Herbert Cooper presided at the organ, and the hymns sung were ‘The saints on earth and those above,’ ‘O God our help in ages past,’ and ‘God the all terrible King, who ordainest.’

The Vicar said they met that most perfect Sabbath morning amidst peaceful surroundings to worship God, and also to pay their tribute of love and respect to the memory of the brave men from that parish who had laid down their lives for them and their country. In the service they had just taken part in they had commemorated 69 men who had been killed in action or died of wounds, and he wished to refer to those young men who had recently fallen, and were closely connected with their church and Sunday school. The first was Sergt. W. Newnes, who had been missing for over a year, and who had now been presumed killed by the authorities. He was one of their best young men in every possible sense of the word. He was a communicant, Sunday-school teacher, and one who took a great interest in the physical side of life, being one of the leaders of their Physical Culture Class. He found that very useful, and when he joined the army in the early days of the war he was made an instructor in physical drill and became a sergeant. Pte. Ernest Hardcastle was killed last September, and they had heard from those who knew him that he was a good soldier. He was connected with the Sunday School, and like Sergt. Richard [Rowland] Hill did not forget his religion when he went in the army. Only a few weeks ago they lost another of their young men – Signaller Harry Barrett. He was treasurer of their Church of England Men’s Society, and a very keen member of their branch. When he joined the army he did so cheerfully, and was ready and anxious to do his duty. He became a good and efficient soldier. They all knew the charm of his manner and what a delightful fellow he was. Reference was also made to Second Lieut. T.D. Stocks and his connection with the Boy Scouts, Sergt. Rowland Hill, Pte. Orman Clarkson, who was accidentally drowned in the Persian Gulf, Air-Mechanic Albert Bradley and Sergt. Joe Bancroft, one of a large family of brothers serving, a young man of extraordinary gallantry who recently won the Military Medal a man who showed that he had in him the qualities which made the very last type of a soldier and who possessed those characteristics which were born with a man and could not be put into him. Pte. Sydney Plumb, who was killed last September, and one of five brothers serving. On behalf of the churchpeople of Silsden he (the Vicar) offered to the relatives of those men their deepest sympathy and their moat sincere and heartfelt gratitude for what they had done for them. He hoped that as long as that church remained and even if at any time a new church should be built, it would be the custom at least once a year to commemorate all the men who had fallen in the war. These gallant men had not gone into utter darkness, they had not been annihilated, but they lived more perfectly and more beautiful than ever before. Whether there men died in action or at home in England, they all did their duty, and they had all left behind them honoured memories. He was impressed and touched beyond all expression by the splendid courage which the women of that pariah had shown in these awful times. It was an inspiration to the men, for they had shown themselves to be worthy mothers and wives of heroes. In conclusion the Vicar said these men had given all. Shall we betray their trust make their deaths in vain. God forbid we shall not.

20 September 1918

Silsden Captain Wounded

News has been received by Mr. and Mrs. James I. Stocks, Airedale Villa, Silsden, that their eldest son, Capt. James Stocks, M.C., of the West Riding Regiment, has been severely wounded in the thigh, and is in hospital in France. Capt. Stocks, who received the Military Cross for good work on the Marne in July, 1918, joined up voluntarily as a private in the West Riding Regiment in September, 1914, and did his training at Skipton, Derby, Clipstone, and various other camps. He gained his commission in the summer of 1915, and went out to France in the autumn of the same year. Capt. Stocks, who is 24 years of age, has lost his younger brother, Sec. Lieut. Tom Dixon Stocks, during the war, and the sympathy of the inhabitants of Silsden is extended to the parents of three brave young men.