Main CPGW Record
Surname: WILKINSON
Forename(s): Felix
Place of Birth: Litton, Yorkshire
Service No: 32626
Rank: Private
Regiment / Corps / Service: Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
Battalion / Unit: 15th (Service) Battalion. (1st Leeds)
Division: 31st Division
Age: 35
Date of Death: 1917-05-03
Awards: ---
CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: Bay 4.
CWGC Cemetery: ---
CWGC Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL
Non-CWGC Burial: ---
Local War Memorial: CONISTONE-WITH-KILNSEY, YORKSHIRE
Additional Information:
Felix Wilkinson was the son of Richard Armistead and Jane Wilkinson, née Sayer and the brother of Sergeant George Emsley Wilkinson (240112) (q.v.). Their father was born at Litton and mother at Littleburn near Thoralby, Yorkshire. Felix and George's aunt, Mary Wilkinson, married George Emsley in 1886. In 1908 Mary married Thomas Twisleton, the father of Major Francis Morphet Twisleton (9/662) (q.v.).
1891 Conistone-with-Kilnsey, Yorkshire Census: North Cote, Kilnsey - Felix Wilkinson, aged 10 years, born Litton, Yorkshire. [Felix was living with his grandparents, Felix and Katherine Sayer. His parents, Richard and Jane, were also living at North Cote.]
1901 Conistone-with-Kilnsey, Yorkshire Census: North Cote, Kilnsey - Felix Wilkinson, aged 19 years, born Litton, Yorkshire. [Felix was living with his grandparents, Felix and Katherine Sayer. His parents, Richard and Jane, were also living at North Cote.]
1911 Kirkburton, Yorkshire Census: Lane Head Farm - Felix Wilkinson, aged 30 years, born Arncliffe, Yorkshire, son of Richard and Jane Wilkinson.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Pte Felix Wilkinson, 32626, W. York. R. Pres. Dead 3.5.17.
British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Pte Felix Wilkinson, 32626, 15th W. York. R. Presumed Dead 3.5.17.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Felix Wilkinson, 32626, 15th Bn W. Yorks. Date and Place of Death: On or since 3.5.17. Death pres'd. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Mother - Jane. £5 6s. 3d.
UK, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: card(s) exist for Felix. Names on card(s): Mother - Mrs Jane Wilkinson and Miss Kathleen May Barden.
The 15th (Service) Bn Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) (1st Leeds), informally known as the Leeds Pals, were amalgamated with the 17th (Service) Bn Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) (2nd Leeds) to form the 15th/17th Battalion on the 7 December 1917.
Felix is commemorated on Kirkburton War Memorial and in 'Huddersfield's Roll of Honour 1914-1922' by J. Margaret Stansfield (2014).
Photograph: courtesy of Burton Environment Group.
A short biography of Felix is included in: ‘Swaledale & Wharfedale Remembered – Aspects of Dales’ life through peace and war’ by Keith Taylor (2006).
Data Source: Craven Herald Article
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Entry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record: ---
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Private Felix WILKINSON
Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 31st Division
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Additional Photo(s) For Soldier Records
Conistone School, c. 1900
Left to right: Annie Inman (Tennant Arms), Lilly Inman (Tennant Arms), John Inman (Tennant Arms), Polly Horner (Chapel House Lodge), Mary Wilkinson (Northcote), Miriam Wilkinson (Northcote). The Wilkinson girls were the sisters of Private Felix Wilkinson (32626) (q.v.) and Sergeant George Emsley Wilkinson (240112) (q.v.)
Courtesy of Lucy J. Suffield, the daughter of John and Elsie Inman
Richard Armistead Wilkinson and his sons
Left to right: George Emsley, Felix, Tennant, William (white shirt), Richard Armistead, John
Courtesy of Burton Environment Group
Kirkburton Garden of Remembrance
Courtesy of Burton Environment Group
Kirkburton War Memorial - detail (Felix and George Emsley Wilkinson)
Courtesy of Burton Environment Group
View Craven Herald Articles
View Craven Herald Articles
05 October 1917
CRAVEN AND THE WAR – A DALES SOLDIER RECEIVES MILITARY MEDAL
Corporal G. E. Wilkinson, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, has been awarded the Military Medal. Corporal Wilkinson is the third son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, late of Cote Farm, Kilnsey, and later of Lane Head Farm, Kirkburton, and is 22 years of age. He was a Territorial when the war broke out in 1914, and went to France in April 1915. Corporal Wilkinson was previously employed by Messrs. Taylor & Hobson, cabinetmakers, Huddersfield. Mrs. Wilkinson has three other sons in the Army – Sergt. Tennant Wilkinson (who has been mentioned by Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig in despatches), and is home on leave just now awaiting his commission; Pte. Felix Wilkinson, who has been missing since May 3rd; and Pte. Jack Wilkinson, who is in training in England.
The medal was awarded for the following acts of gallantry:– “For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in the trenches. On the night of August 7th 1917, battalion headquarters in the trenches were heavily shelled and all wires were broken. Corporal Wilkinson, with two linesmen, went out and repaired the lines to two of the companies under extremely difficult conditions. On the night of August 13th, during the inter-battalion relief, the corporal and his linesmen again went out under heavy shellfire and repaired lines, which had been broken. On this occasion the relieving battalion had one of their linesmen killed and two others wounded within a few feet of them. On the night of August 16th all wires were again broken and he and his linesmen immediately went out along the canal bank, which was being heavily shelled with gas shells and high explosives at the time, and succeeded in getting the line through to the left front line company.”
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