Kayley EARNSHAW

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.

07 April 1916

SCOSTHROP MAN WINS THE D.C.M.

Sergt. Kaley Earnshaw, of Scosthrop-in-Malhamdale, has won the D.C.M. for great gallantry in France. He was one of the first to offer himself in response to the appeal of Captain Tunstill, C.C., for a hundred recruits in September 1914, and with other splendid men from the district was attached to the 10th Battalion West Riding Regiment.

Sergeant Earnshaw, after his machine gun had been blown up by a shell, succeeded in digging it out, and then got it into working order, all the time being heavily shelled by the Germans, who were only 60 yards away. He also rendered great aid in bandaging up the wounded.

Sergeant Earnshaw has received the congratulations of the General and other officers. Mrs. Earnshaw was informed of the honour won by her husband in a letter from him, and also by one from Captain Tunstill. Sergeant Earnshaw served with the Artillery through the South African War, and present at the relief of Ladysmith.

Captain Tunstill writes as follows:– “The General is having a special parade today to give Lieut. T. Heale (one of the officers in the 10th West Ridings) the Military Cross, and Kaley Earnshaw the D.C.M. We are so delighted about Kaley, do tell everyone in Malhamdale about it, and how well he deserves it too. He is the first of my men to win the D.C.M., although there are many others who have earned it again and again. It is really wonderful to see them, always so cheerful and happy, although undergoing the greatest hardships and privations, under very trying conditions, and I feel more proud of my company each day. I know how proud Pte. Kaley Earnshaw’s fellow dalesmen will be of him, as we are, and will wish both him and the rest of us all good luck and a safe return home.”

16 June 1916

EARNSHAW – June 9th, in France, Sergt. Earnshaw, D.C.M., of the 10th West Yorks., husband of Mrs. Earnshaw of Scosthrop, Airton, Bell Busk.

16 June 1916

SERGT. KAYLEY EARNSHAW, D.C.M., KILLED

News was received on Wednesday that Sergt. Kayley Earnshaw, D.C.M., of 10th West Yorks., had been killed in action by a trench bomb. The news was received by Sergeant Earnshaw’s wife, who resides at Scosthrop, near Airton, and when it became known in Malhamdale great sympathy was expressed for the widow and family. The following letter was received from Captain Tunstill:– “It is with very great sorrow that I have to tell you that your husband was killed yesterday in doing his duty as a brave man. He was taking his machine gun team to the trenches when a trench mortar hit him, and he was killed on the spot. I knew nothing about it until today, and this evening it has been my duty to see him buried.

“There was no man in this Battalion more respected than your husband. He was one of the few who had won the D.C.M., and he had won the respect and admiration of every officer and man of the Battalion. It is difficult for me to tell you what I think, but I feel his death more perhaps than any other N.C.O. of this Battalion. I remember him as a civilian, and I knew him as a soldier, and you have my sympathy in losing a husband who was a very brave and valiant soldier. I have tonight seen him buried. He is buried some few hundred yards behind the firing line between two little woods. There were not many of us there, but those who were there grieved to lose a man who could be ill spared, and the thought of those there were with you.”

Mr. Harry Foster, a machine gun office, wrote:– “No words of mine can adequately express the sympathy which I, and indeed the whole machine gun section, wish to convey to you in your loss. Earnshaw was one of the finest men and the best soldier in the Battalion, and was respected by officers and men alike, and no man had more thoroughly earned the medal which was recently conferred upon him for distinguished conduct in the field. Sergt. Pickles has collected the articles of personal value which he had with him, and is sending them on to you in due course. I cannot say any more to you, except to tell you that he died instantly (I was there just after he was hit), and without suffering any pain, and I can only hope the thought that he died while doing his duty to his King and country, like the man he was, will be some slight comfort and consolation to you.”

Sergeant Earnshaw, who enlisted in Captain Tunstill’s troop from Airton, went through the Boer War, serving as gunner attached to the 63rd Battery. He was drafted home as an invalid after suffering from fever. He joined the Leeds Royal Artillery at Leeds at the age of 18. He sailed from Bristol in the transport ‘Ismore’, and the vessel was wrecked off Columbia Point, about 90 miles from Cape Town. After spending some days on land, two gunboats were sent down from Cape Town, but they could not get within 12 miles of the spot, and a transport had to be requisitioned to take the men off. Sergeant Earnshaw was in at the capture of Spion Kop and the relief of Ladysmith.

Before joining Captain Tunstill’s troop, Sergt. Earnshaw was under gardener for Mr. Dudley Illingworth at Hanlith Hall. He was highly respected in the district and his wife and two children live at Scosthrop. He earned the D.C.M. in April last. We quote from a report given at the time:– “Sergeant Earnshaw, after his machine gun had been blown up by a shell, succeeded in digging it out, and then got it into working order, all the time being heavily shelled by the Germans, who were only 60 yards away. He also rendered great aid in bandaging up the wounded.”

Sergeant Earnshaw leaves a wife and young family, and for them, as well as for his mother and sisters, great sympathy is felt. His youngest brother recently went out to France, and a nephew, who belonged to Carleton, went down on the ‘Defence’ last week.

28 July 1916

KIRKBY MALHAMDALE AND THE WAR

We regret to have to report that Mrs. Earnshaw, of Airton, has been informed by the War Office that her son, Pte. Farrand Earnshaw, had been missing since July 1st. Pte. Earnshaw was the youngest brother of Sergt Kayley Earnshaw, D.C.M., whose death was reported in June. He was living with his mother up to the time of joining the army in March last. Great sympathy is felt throughout the dale for the family, and especially for the mother.

18 August 1916

ANOTHER AIRTON SOLDIER KILLED

Mrs. Earnshaw, of Airton, whose youngest son, Farrand, was reported as missing from July 1st, has received from the War Office today a statement that her son was killed in action in France on July 1st. Great sympathy is felt for Mrs. Earnshaw and her family in this their third bereavement. Her son, Sergeant Kayley Earnshaw, D.C.M., was killed on June 9th, and her grandson, Seaman Earnshaw, was lost in the naval battle.

08 March 1918

AIRTON

PRESENTATION OF D.C.M. – During the early part of 1916 the honour of D.C.M. was given to Sergt. Kayley Earnshaw, of the Machine Gun Section, West Riding Regiment, for recovering his gun after it had been buried by shell fire, and for conspicuous courage in attending to the wounded. The people in the district raised a substantial sum as a mark of their appreciation. Later the sad news was received that Sergt. Earnshaw had been killed, and the money raised was invested in War Bonds for Mrs. Earnshaw. He had served in the R.F.A. through the South African campaign. On Thursday last Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Maxwell and a distinguished company met at the Leeds Town Hall, when he presented 86 medals to soldiers or their nearest relatives, 66 being received by soldiers, and 20 by the relatives. Each of the men received an encouraging reception when they mounted the platform, especially warm and sympathetic being the greetings given to relatives of soldiers who had fallen. Amongst this number was Mrs. Kayley Earnshaw, of Scosthrop, whose husband paid the supreme sacrifice on June 9th, 1916.