John Hartley RILEY

15 June 1917

SILSDEN – MEN WOUNDED AND MISSING

Pte. John Hartley Riley, of the Lancashire Fusiliers, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Riley, 9, King Street, Silsden, and husband of Mrs. Riley, 9, Main Street, Crosshills, was recently reported missing from May 3rd. On Saturday last, however, a postcard was received from him stating that he was a prisoner of war in Germany. He is 27 years of age, enlisted last September, and went out to France at the beginning of February. Prior to joining the Colours he was employed by Mr. S. Mitchell, butcher, Low Street, Keighley.

15 June 1917

IN MEMORY OF SEVEN SILSDEN FALLEN HEROES

There was a large congregation at the Parish Church on Sunday morning last, when a service was held in memory of seven young men from Silsden who have recently paid the great sacrifice for King and Country.

The service was conducted by the Vicar (Rev. E. E. Peters, M.A.,) who said they were met that morning, when all nature seemed to speak of joy and gladness, under very solemn and sad circumstances to pay their tribute of respect and affection to the memory of seven gallant men who had given their lives for their country. They were:– Private Fred Hardy, Private Edgar Raw, Private Harry Wade, Private William Burton, Private Willie Saddington, Private John William Baldwin, and Private Charles Henry Gill.

By their presence and by taking part in that service, they gave some expression of the heartfelt sympathy which they felt with the sorrowing relatives.

Private Fred Hardy had not been resident a great many years in Silsden, but he had gained many friends by reason of his cheerful disposition and his pleasant and amiable manners. When the call came he left his wife and his happy and comfortable home to go forth in order to do his duty. They knew how he was wounded, brought to a Casualty Clearing Station, and how for some days there was terrible anxiety as to how the balance would turn. During that time he either wrote himself, or dictated to the good and sympathetic chaplain, most brave and cheerful letters in which he thought of his wife, not at all of himself. He derived great comfort from the consolation of religion, and the chaplain was able to write to his wife and assure her how he died in the faith and fear of Jesus Christ.

Private Edgar Raw was one who gave an early answer when the call first came. He had not the pleasure of knowing him personally, but everyone spoke in the very highest terms of him. He was a most excellent young man, active in religious work, and left behind him a fragrant memory.

He then came to one whose loss had been a peculiarly intimate one to him as well as a personal sorrow, for he knew him well, and like everyone else who knew him, he had a great regard for him. He referred to Private Harry Wade, a young man of great promise and blameless character, a true simple-hearted Christian and loyal Churchman, and a regular communicant to whom he had had the great privilege of administering on more than one occasion since he joined the Army the Holy Sacrament. He was a young man, home loving and home keeping; yet, one who felt it his duty to volunteer to defend his country. Although he had no taste for military life, he nevertheless made a thoroughly good soldier, and one of whom his officer spoke in the very highest terms. His officer said he showed great capability, was always reliable and trustworthy, and one whom he could chose to do important work and knew it would be carried out well. Now he had gone to the home above and left them a very heavy loss indeed.

Private William Burton, who was probably not known to a great many of them, was held in high esteem by those who knew him. He was the gardener at Moorfield, and a man who was thoroughly efficient in his work and took a great delight in it. He, too, was very comfortable in his home with his wife and two children, and had gained the confidence and esteem of his employer. He and three other men were killed going to the trenches by a German shell.

Then he came to one who was well known to all of them – Private Willie Saddington – a young man who was brought up in their Sunday School. He had the distinction, as was generally known, of being one of the five soldiers in Silsden who, at mobilisation, was called up to the Colours at the very beginning of the war. He believed his father was also one of the original five. He had honourable military traditions in his family, and since the war broke out – he was a Territorial, as they knew – he at once volunteered for active service. He was kept back in England for some time on account of being a member of a military band, and at last he went out and had not been long at the Front before he fell doing his duty honourably and gallantly.

Private John Wm. Baldwin was a man much older than those of whom he had spoken. He was a soldier of that grand Army – the old original regular Army. He had served his country in South Africa, served his time in the reserves; a man time expired when the war broke out, and well above age, but still he volunteered to join the Colours again. He was one of those who during the first terrible months of the war maintained our cause against desperate odds. He was wounded at Hill 60 of bloody memory, the scene last week of our great and glorious victory. He never recovered entirely from his wounds, his health having been grievously affected, and he died at the military hospital at Derby, where he had gained the affection of the staff. He was laid to rest in that Parish Churchyard with military honours in the presence of a large and sympathetic congregation.

It was only the previous week that they heard of the death of Private Charles Henry Gill, one whom the stern necessity of cruel war had made into a soldier. He was a young man of retiring disposition, reserved in his manners to the general public, but one full of family affection, and devoted to his home. He had fallen a victim to the monster, called into being by the Prussian lust of conquest.

He wished to speak of three more of their young men who were in a somewhat different category to those he had already mentioned. He hoped they would not have to mourn them as gone, and prayed that good news might come concerning them. They had all been reported missing:– Sergeant Charles W. Newns, Private Norman Phillip, and Private Jack Riley.

They were all intimately connected with that place of worship, having been taught in their Sunday School. Sergeant Newns was one of the most promising young men they had. He was a splendid young man, a good Sunday School teacher, and a gymnast and athlete. He naturally made a very fine soldier and gained the highest testimony from his officers and also from the men he commanded. The last they had heard of him was that he was seen risking his life for a wounded man. They prayed that it might be the will of Almighty God to restore those men to them, as they could ill afford to lose them. He wished on his own behalf, and on behalf of all of those present, to express deep sympathy with those in great sorrow and affliction. It was hard to express in anything like adequate terms what they felt. They all realised that the inequality of sacrifice was one of the sad things of their life – that some had to sacrifice so much while others, whether they were willing or unwilling, were not called upon to make sacrifices of like character. But he assured them that they appreciated in the most complete manner the offerings of their sons and the husbands and of those so near and dear to them, which had been made in the cause of righteousness and truth.

During the service the hymns, ‘The saints on earth and those above’, ‘On the resurrection morning’, and ‘O God our help in ages past’, were sung.

There was a company of Girl Guides present at the service, in charge of the vicar’s wife.

The bells were also muffled as a token of respect to the fallen.

31 August 1917

SILSDEN – PRISONERS OF WAR FUND

Prompted by an earnest desire to relieve the monotony and suffering of the Silsden prisoners of war in Germany, the Distress Committee inaugurated a gala on Saturday last with a view to raising a satisfactory sum of money to be devoted to the prisoners of war interests. It is now apparent that parcels can only be sent to Germany through societies specially instituted for the purpose, each society covering its own regimental area.

Therefore, it is the intention of the Silsden Distress Committee to contribute to the respective societies under the purvey of which local soldiers come, so that the latter may receive parcels, if not direct, then through the efforts of Silsden people. To send six parcels a month to the five Silsden prisoners of war for a year will entail an estimated expenditure of £150. As the work is at present being carried out by other people, it is thought that Silsden people ought to accept the responsibility. This they have undertaken to do, and contemplate raising the above amount.

The function on Saturday was only the prelude to further efforts, which will be held during the winter months.

The district under which each man is registered is being located so that financial assistance might be sent from the Distress Committee. As a forerunner of efforts to follow, the financial success of Saturday’s gala augurs well for the ultimate result of what has been set out to achieve.

The names of the five Silsden men who are interned in Germany are as follows:– Pte. Harry Rolston Clad, who, as a reservist, was called up on the outbreak of war and was captured during the retreat from Mons; Pte. James Jolley, West Riding Regt; Pte. Arthur Hyde, South Staffordshire Regt; Pte. John Hartley Riley, Lancashire Fusiliers, and Signaller Benjamin C. England, West Riding Regiment.

22 November 1918

CROSSHILLS – Private J. H. Riley Dies in Germany

On Saturday morning Mrs. J. H. Riley of Main Street, Crosshills, received a letter from the British Help Committee, dated 11th October, informing her that her husband, Private John H. Riley, of the 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, had died in the prisoner of war camp at Heuberg, Baden. The letter states that Private Riley died on Tuesday 8th October, after about a week’s illness. The funeral took place on the 10th, and his body was laid to rest by his comrades in the camp cemetery with as near military ceremony as circumstances would permit. Four beautiful wreaths were provided by his British comrades, and the American and French prisoners also provided floral tributes. Representatives of each nationality attended the funeral. The letter concludes with a beautiful verse composed by one of Private Riley’s comrades. Private Riley had been a prisoner of war about eighteen months, and had always written very cheerfully to his wife. He was home on leave in December 1916, and was taken prisoner the following May. At the time of enlistment he was employed as butcher by Mr. Sims Mitchell, Keighley. He was highly respected by all who knew him.