Thomas Whitney SMITH

15 September 1916

ADDINGHAM [sic] – THE LATE PRIVATE W. R. SMITH

Sympathy to Mrs. Smith from the Lothersdale lads at the front is expressed in the following letter received last Tuesday morning:–

10th Platoon
‘C’ Company
Duke of Wellington Regiment
British Expeditionary Force
France
September 8th 1916

“Dear Mrs. Smith – I write to express my very deepest sympathy in your great loss. I had intended writing sooner, but have not had the opportunity. I was very sorry indeed when the news reached me that Willie had been killed. I had been looking forward to the time when all we Lothersdale lads would get home together safely and sound. If it is any consolation to you, and I think it will be, Willie died a noble death, fighting for his King and Country. We here are all very sorry for what has happened to him, but we are still proud of him. I saw Francis [Francis John Kay] and Alvin [Alvin Smith] the other night and together we agreed to send to you our deepest sympathy. I have seen Tommy (deceased’s brother) a few times since we came out of the trenches and he is looking fairly well under the circumstances. Of course, he feels his loss very much, but is taking it very bravely so I hope you will. It is very hard indeed, but God knows and sees further than we can and does things for the best. We don’t know what the future has in store for us here, but we are asking God to bring us safely home and I have faith that He will do so. With very deepest sympathy.

“I remain, very sincerely yours, GEO. ELVEY RIDDIOUGH”

06 JUly 1917

LOTHERSDALE – Wounded

Mrs. Smith, Millyard, Lothersdale, has received a field card from her son, Pte. Thomas Smith, to the effect that he is in hospital in France wounded, but up to the present no further information has been received. Pte. Smith joined the Army shortly after the outbreak of war, and has been in France about 18 months. His younger brother, William, was killed at the Front last September.

21 December 1917

LOTHERSDALE – Home on Leave

Private Thomas Smith, of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, is home on a 14 days’ leave from the Front. Pte. Smith enlisted at the outbreak of war and has been at the Front over two years.

Privates Robert Elvey and Cedric Riddiough are also home on leave, but not from the Front.

Pte. S. Oddy has also arrived home on a furlough from the Front.

03 May 1918

THE ROLL OF HONOUR – Private Thomas W. Smith, Lothersdale

After nearly three years service in or near the fighting line in France and Flanders, Private Thomas W. Smith, West Riding Regiment, whose home was at Rose Cottage, Lothersdale, has died of wounds received on the 16th April in the recent heavy fighting on the Western Front, an official intimation to this effect having been received by his mother on Monday. Deceased enlisted shortly after the outbreak of war, was drafted into France in June 1915, where he was slightly wounded in the jaw a few months ago. Private Smith was 24 years of age, of a bright and cheerful disposition, and was well known and respected in the village. A member of the Bethel Chapel from childhood, and a keen, capable and enthusiastic athlete, his death is keenly felt in the village, and wholehearted sympathy is extended by all its inhabitants to his widowed mother and a family of brothers and sisters. His brother, Private W. Smith, was killed on active service nearly two years ago.

17 May 1918

Private F. J. Kay, Lothersdale

We regret the death in France of Private Francis John Kay of the West Riding Regiment, formerly of Lothersdale, at the age of 25 years, to which we briefly referred in our last week’s issue. From a letter received from one of his comrades, it seems that whilst on a short respite behind the firing lines volunteers were invited for the laying of some electric wires, Private Kay, along with others, offering themselves for the task. Through some misfortune he (Private Kay) inadvertently came into contact with a ‘live’ wire, which caused his tragic end. Deceased enlisted on the outbreak of hostilities, along with four other Lothersdale lads (the first volunteers from the village), and was drafted into France in June 1915, where, although he has been in several engagements, he hitherto escaped without a scratch. Previous to the war he was employed as a stone-breaker by Messrs. P. W. Spencer at Raygill Limestone Quarries, Lothersdale, and was well-known and respected by all who knew him. He was a member of the Bethel Chapel Choir, a member of the Village Club, and a keen contestant in all the village sports. His death is keenly felt by all, and their sympathy is with his father, who resides in Skipton, and his sisters, four of whom reside in Lothersdale. A service to the memory of the above and Private Smith (who was killed in France the week before Private Kay, a report of whose death was published in these columns two weeks ago) was held on Whit Sunday in the Bethel Chapel.

24 May 1918

LOTHERSDALE – In Memoriam

A very impressive service in memory of Private F.J. Kay and Private T.W. Smith (reports of whose death in France have been published in previous issues) was held on Sunday afternoon last in the Bethel Chapel, the officiating minister being the Rev. F.H.J. Thornton, of Crosshills. Hymns appropriate to the occasion were sung, and the choir, conducted by Mr. C.J. Smith, sang ‘Yea though I walk.’ At the close of the service Mr. E. Pickles, the organist, played the ‘Dead march.’