25 September 1914
THE ROLL OF HONOUR
The following men have answered the appeal by joining the Settle Company of the 10th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment:–
From Austwick – William Hoyle, Wilson Pritchard, Samuel Shepherd, Fred Swale, John William Thistlewaite, George Thistlewaite.
Airton – Kayley Earnshaw.
Arncliffe – Percy Hodgson, John Simpson.
Bolton-by-Bowland – Irvine Clark, Jim Coates, Richard Davies Ellison, Harold Greenhow, Edward Victor Grubb, James Mason, Robert Singleton, Joseph Chapman Syers.
Bell Busk – Leonard Fox.
Clapham – Albert Edward Drury, Arthur Herbert Procter.
Grindleton – William Irvin Bell, James Wilding Clarkson, Joshua Crossley, William Walker.
Gisburn – Anthony Lofthouse, John Robinson.
Hellifield – James John Angus, Charles Graham, Thomas Harding, Charles Harwood, Sidney Hoar, John Ernest Linnett, Joseph Edward Preston, Thomas Procter, Christopher Ralph, Norman Roberts, Fred Graham.
Horton – John Bruce Davidson.
Ingleton – Hugh Robinson.
Longpreston – Arthur Bailey, Thomas Garnett, John Henry Hitchin, Henry Edward Horner, William Jones, James Kayley, Job Kayley, Arthur Lawson, William Henry Metcalfe, Joseph Parker, William Procter, William Rawlinson.
Langcliffe – Richard Butler, Thomas Henry Edmondson.
Marton – John Beckwith.
Malham – James Swinbank.
Newsholme – Thomas Edward Askew, Carl Parrington Branthwaite, Benjamin Ashton Butler, William Henry Scott.
Otterburn – Harry Gilbert Tunstill.
Settle – Robert William Bell, Ernest Campbell, George Clark, John Thomas Cockerill, Robert Cresswell, Herbert Dickinson, William Edward Gibson, George Jellett, Thomas Laytham, Robert Henry Maunders, Robert Newhouse, Walter Umpleby, Thomas Walsh, Solomon Richard Webb.
Stainforth – Walter Dinsdale.
Slaidburn – Edwin Isherwood, Walter Isherwood, Abel Moore, Charles Edward Parker, George Whitfield.
Wigglesworth – Fred Metcalfe, George Oversby.
Waddington – Joseph Barrett Hartley, Albert Hird [Herd], Harry Smith, Thomas Rigby, William Watson.
27 October 1916
RALPH – October 6th, on the Western Front, Pte. Chris. Ralph, of Hellifield, aged 30.
27 October 1916
TWO HELLIFIELD MEN KILLED
Information was received on Friday morning by Miss Ralph, of Haw Grove, Hellifield, that her brother, Private Chris. Ralph, had been killed in action on the Western Front on October 6th. The sad news was conveyed in letters from two Hellifield comrades in the same Company. Pte. T. Bownass writes as follows: “It is with deepest regret that I have to write you these few lines, and they are accompanied with my heartfelt sympathy. I am sorry to have to tell you of the death of your brother, Kit, which occurred whilst we were in action on the 6th inst. He was at the time acting as guide to the party who relieved us in the front line on that date, and was killed instantly by a shell bursting in the trench they were proceeding along. He was well liked by all the lads of the platoon, as he always had a cheery word and looked on the bright side of things, and we all miss him badly. The lads wish me to tender you their deepest sympathy in your great loss, and trust that God will sustain and comfort you in your dark and lonely hours.”
Pte. Harley Bentham, in a letter says:– “I have been asked by some of the lads to write to you and tell you how sorry we are and how we sympathise with you in your great loss. Kit was a fine chap and a good soldier, and I am sure we all used to like him. Our battalion had been in the line four days and were being relieved that night. Kit had volunteered to act as guide to the men who were to relieve us, and he was leading them up the communication trench when a shell burst right on the parapet close to your brother and hit him. Death would be instantaneous; he would not suffer any pain. He has been buried close to the place where he fell. He often used to talk of you, and look forward to your letters coming. I ask you to accept the sympathy of myself and his pals from Long Preston and district.”
Pte. Ralph, who was 30 years old, was the eldest son of the late Mr. John Ralph, of Main Road, Hellifield. He enlisted with Captain Tunstill’s men in the Duke of Wellington’s in September 1914 and went to the Front the following August. Before joining the forces he was in the employ of the Midland Railway as a goods shunter. He was of a bright disposition, and was formerly a member of the Church choir and Sunday school.
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