Harry TINDALL

29 September 1916

TINDALL – September 15th, killed in action in Somme region, France, Rifleman Harry Tindall, King’s Royal Rifles, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Tindall, 22, Standroyd Place, Colne, and formerly of Skipton, aged 23 years.

29 September 1916

ONE OF THE GLORIOUS BAND OF HEROES – SKIPTON STUDENT TEACHER DIES FROM WOUNDS: RIFLEMAN HARRY TINDALL

We deeply regret to announce that on Monday morning a letter was received from the Western Front containing news of the death from wounds received in action of Rifleman Harry Tindall, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs William Henry Tindall, now of 22, Standroyd Road, Colne, but formerly of Skipton. Deceased was attached to the same Regiment as the late Earl of Feversham, whose death in action was announced last week, and from the information to hand it appears that the Regiment was in the forefront of operations to the Somme region on Friday, September 15th.

Rifleman Tindall was only twenty-three years old, and when he enlisted he had entered upon a promising scholastic career. He received his early education at the Water Street Council School, Skipton, where he won a scholarship which entitled him to four years’ education at the Skipton Grammar School. Subsequently he became a student teacher at the Brougham Street School under Mr. Townsend, where he remained for about twelve months, afterwards proceeding to St. John’s College, York, to complete his training.

Like thousands of other young noble Englishmen, he quickly realised that the call of the nation was especially important to such as he, and he would, without doubt, have been in the Army much sooner than he actually was but for the necessity for him to finish his training at the College. The Lusitania outrage in particular had a stirring effect upon him, and he told his relatives that after this slaughter of innocent people it was his duty to help in the overthrow of a nation that could perpetrate such crimes.

In November last year he joined the Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifles, raised by the late Earl of Feversham, which has since been called ‘A Corps of Gentlemen’ and underwent the necessary training at Aldershot.

He was drafted to the Front on May 8th last. Two of his cousins, sons of Mr. Arthur Tindall of Cavendish Street, Skipton, are also serving with the same Battalion.

Rifleman Tindall was a young man of high ideals and singularly amiable disposition, and his loss will be deeply regretted by many young men with whom he had associations, as well as by the numerous friends he had made in various quarters. Whilst studying at the Skipton Grammar School he took a keen interest in the athletic side of the school life, and played with both the football and cricket teams. He took a similar interest in the games at St. John’s College, York, and he had also played occasionally with the Skipton Rugby Football Club. It will be seen that the following letter from the Officer Commanding deceased’s platoon bears the highest testimony to his character and disposition in his relations with those around him, as well as to his devotion and gallantry as a soldier. The letter is as follows:–

“Permit me to offer my sincerest sympathy with you in the loss of your gallant son, Rifleman Tindall, who died nobly for his King and Country in the Battle of 15th September. As Commander of No. 7 Platoon I saw a great deal of him. He was a dear, gentle lad, greatly beloved by all who knew him. We all, both officers and men alike, fully feel for you in your great loss, which we also regard as our own. I think he was happy with No. 7 Platoon, for a nicer lot of brave lads it would be impossible to find anywhere. I myself feel as though each one of these dear lads was my own brother, so it is with the greatest sorrow that I have to write such a letter as this. He was wounded and taken to the dressing station where he painlessly died. It will surely be some comfort to you to know that he has joined that glorious band of heroes who gave up all, even life itself, for King and Country, and have now earned a reward so great that we cannot even begin to imagine it.

“Yours with very deepest sympathy, Believe me, PHILLIP BROOKBANK, Second Lieutenant.”

From Rifleman Allan Tindall, deceased’s cousin, has also been received a touching letter, from which we taken the following extracts:–

“We have seen real fighting at last, having taken part in the latest advance, and we had a warm time while we were in action. Teddy (the writer’s brother) as reserve machine gunner, had to stay behind. Harry and I, however, went over the top and I am sorry to have to tell you that Harry was wounded. We had not got very far when we were met by a wave of machine gun fire, and I saw Harry, who was only a few yards away, fall. It was an agonising moment, for I could not see how badly he was wounded, and you must go forward at all costs, whatever happens to your chums, or there would be no one to meet the enemy when the position was reached. Later, however, some of our fellows who had been nearer to him than I was came up and told me he had got a machine gun bullet in the thigh, which is not very serious. The last I can trace of him is that he was sent at once to the dressing station and I am hoping that he has been attended to and may be in hospital in England by now. I had two near ‘do’s,’ my rifle being knocked out of my hand by a bullet, and then I had a damaged cigarette box which saved me from a shrapnel bullet in the heart. We are now resting and recouping, though for how long I cannot say. I expect we shall have another ‘go’ at the Bosch before long, and the quarrel now seems a personal one, when several of your chums have gone under.”

22 December 1916

SKIPTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL’S ROLL OF HONOUR

The Christmas issue of the Skipton Grammar School Magazine contains some very fine and touching tributes to the following ‘Old Boys’ who have laid down their lives for King and Country in this great War since the previous issue of the magazine:–

Lance Corporal A. J. Metcalfe, Durham Light Infantry
Pte. C. T. W. Rigby, 11th West Riding Regiment
Rifleman Harry Tindall, King’s Royal Rifles
Sergt. A. F. Ryder, K.O.Y.L.I.
Rifleman W. M. Jowett, Rifle Brigade, New Zealand Expeditionary Force

It is also recorded with keen regret that Captain C. Waddington, 3rd East Lancashire’s, and Second-Lieut. J. L. Tibbett, R.F.C., two other old schoolboys, have been taken prisoners of war.

26 October 1917

IN MEMORIAM – BROUGHAM STREET SCHOOL HEROES

At the Congregational Church, Skipton, on Tuesday evening, an impressive musical service was held in memory of the teachers and old scholars of the Brougham Street Council School who have fallen in the first three years of the war. Particulars of the deaths of these brave lads have appeared in our columns from time to time, and their names are as follows:– Willie Barraclough, C.D. Bennett (teacher), Arthur Bruce, Sam Cairns, Cyril Calvert, Ennie Clarke, Tom Clarke, Harry Ingham, Tom Langman, Reggie Pollard, Lewis Sedgwick, Joe Stewart, Harry Tindall (teacher), and J.W. Varley.

There was a large and sympathetic congregation, including relatives of those in whose honour the service was held. Conducted jointly by the Rev. L.H. Gaunt and Mr. A. Townsend (headmaster of the school), the service, in addition to special prayers, hymns, collects, &c., comprised anthems by the Brougham Street School Old Scholars’ Choir (under the direction of Mr. Townsend), solos by Miss D. Wear and Mr. Clifford Townsend, and an address by Mr. Gaunt.

In a few introductory remarks Mr. Townsend explained the object of the service, which he said was one of praise rather than of sorrow for the splendour of the lives that had been laid down. – The anthems were ‘O God, protect with Thy strong hand’ (Greig), ‘Rest for the Weary’ (Gounod), ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Smart), and ‘Peace to the Souls of the Heroes’ (Callcott), and in all these and in Nicholson’s setting of the ‘Magnificat’ the girls’ voices blended with pleasing effect, the singing being marked by a very fine tone and clear enunciation, showing evidence of careful training. Miss D. Wear sang most acceptably the exacting solo ‘I know that my Redeemer’ (Handel) and Mr. Clifford Townsend gave a meritorious interpretation of ‘The trumpet shall sound’ (Handel). In addition to playing the organ accompaniments with the customary taste and efficiency, Mr. W.H. Green contributed as a solo the ‘Hallelujah Chorus.’

In his address the Rev. L.H. Gaunt expressed his pleasure that the Congregational Church should have been used for a service of that kind and said he would rejoice if it could be used more frequently for public gatherings in which not only comparatively small circle of their own congregation might join, but in which the whole town might feel that it had some part. He also expressed his agreement with what Mr. Townsend had said as to the view they ought to take of the death of their boys, and said he felt that the Bishop of London – despite the fact that he had been taken to task for his expression of opinion – was right when he said that they ought not to think of the death of their boys as sheer calamity and overwhelming sorrow. They ought to think of them as having made a sacrifice bravely and heroically at the call of their country and for humanity, and those who were left behind to cherish their memory would honour them best by thinking of that sacrifice as a victory and not as a disaster; and their remembrance of them should come as a call to follow their example, to live so that they would be worthy of the sacrifice of their loved ones, and to bring to their lives into harmony with the great high note that they had struck in their sacrifice. They thanked God for what their boys had done and suffered, and most of all for what they had been and were now, and to ask His grace to follow in their train.

A collection was taken on behalf of the proposed new memorial of the Brougham Street School, which will probably take the form of a scholarship fund.