08 November 1918
DOWNES – Died October 28th, from wounds received in action, Private Thomas Downes, West Riding Regiment, Skipton.
We little thought when we said good-bye
We had parted for ever and you were to die;
Oh, the grief that it gives us, words cannot tell,
For we could not be with you to bid you farewell.
08 November 1918
MORE SKIPTON CASUALTIES – Private Thomas Downes, West Ridings
After four years service in the Army during the present war, including two and a half years’ service at the Front, Private Thomas Downes, West Riding Regiment, of 85 Newmarket Street, Skipton, has died in hospital at Abbeville, France, following amputation of his leg, rendered necessary by a serious wound received in the fighting near Cambrai. Deceased, who served in the Boer War, leaves a widow and six children, for whom much sympathy is felt.
Letters from the hospital show that the operation on the leg was performed on October 26th, and that Private Downes became worse during the night, and despite everything that could be done for him he died on the morning of October 28th. The assistant matron says:– “It is so terrible for you and I feel very sorry for you indeed, yet no one can die a more noble death, and it must comfort you a little and almost make you proud to know that he has given his life for others.”
Private Downes was 36 years of age and worked for the Skipton Urban Council. His brother, Private Joe Downes, of Embsay, is also serving in France, and another brother, Stephen Downes, has gone back to Australia after serving with an Australian contingent in France.
31 October 1919
DOWNS – In loving memory of my dear husband, Private T. Downs, 2nd West Riding Regiment, died of wounds received in action October 28th, 1918.
I heard the church bells ringing,
The day that the war was o’er;
Ringing out the message
That peace did reign one more.
And oh, how I thought with a heart that ached,
Of the one that I loved so well.
For what that message meant to me,
Only those who have lost can tell.
From his loving Wife and Children, 85 Newmarket Street, Skipton.
DOWNS – In loving memory of our dear brother, Private Tom Downs, who died of wounds October 28th, 1918.
Sleep on, dear brother, in thy lonely grave,
Your life for your country you nobly gave;
No loved ones around you to bid you good-bye,
But in God’s keeping you safely lie.
With aching hearts we shook his hand,
Tears glistened in our eyes;
We wished him luck but little thought
It was his last good-bye.
From his sisters Eva and Edith.
29 October 1920
DOWNS – In loving memory of a dear husband and father, Pte. T. Downs, who died of wounds in France, October 28th, 1918.
“He was ours, and we remember though the world forgets.”
From his loving Wife and Children, 85 Newmarket Street, Skipton.
28 October 1921
DOWNES – In loving memory of a dear husband and father, Pte. Tom Downes, 2nd Duke of Wellington’s Regt., died of wounds, Oct. 28th, 1918.
Sweet are the memories that never fade
Of one we loved but could not save.
From his loving Wife and Children, 85 Newmarket Street, Skipton.
23 February 1923
ODDFELLOWS’ WAR MEMORIAL
UNVEILING CEREMONY AT A SKIPTON LODGE
OVER 200 WHO SERVED
There was a large attendance of local members of the Independent Order of Oddfellows at the Friendly Societies’ Hall, Skipton, on Saturday afternoon, on the occasion of the unveiling of a war memorial to the members of the Loyal Traveller’s Friend Lodge, I.O.O.F, M.U., who fell in the war.
The Memorial takes the form of a beautifully designed scroll within an oak frame with a glass front, the work of Mr. H. Spencer, junr., and it bears the inscription:–
LOYAL/TRAVELLER’S FRIEND LODGE,/SKIPTON DISTRICT ./I.O.O.F. ROLL OF HONOUR M.U./OF/THOSE MEMBERS OF THIS LODGE WHO FOUGHT FOR THEIR KING AND COUNTRY TO UPHOLD THE SACRED CAUSES OF BROTHERHOOD AND HUMANITY IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914–1918.
Below the inscription are the names of 173 members who served in the war, and of the 40 members who were killed. The names of the fallen occupy a central position on the scroll, and above them are the following words:–
IN MEMORIAM
OF THOSE WHO MADE THE
SUPREME SACRIFICE.
THEIR HEARTS ARE LIFTED UP
THEIR HEARTS
THAT HAVE FOREKNOWN
THE UTTER PRICE,
THEIR HEARTS BURN
UPWARD AS A FLAME
OF SPLENDOUR AND OF
SACRIFICE
The names of the fallen are as follows:– H. Armstrong, J.J. Brown, J. Barrett, Robt. Brown, W.W. Bell, A. Clayton, W.H. Coles, T.C. Chew, Tom Downes, T.M. Drummond, Jos. Emmott, Thos. Edmondson, J. Easterby, F. Gallagher, J.W. Garwood, G.E. Godwin, S.J. Hargreaves, M. Hargreaves, A. Hebden, J. Hebden, A. Hawkswell, T.E. Inman, M. Lund, R.C. [R.G.] Metcalfe, Hbt. Maudsley, Hy. Maudsley, A.J. Pimnock [Pinnock], H.Y. [Harry] Riley, T.W. Storey, J.H. Stewart, R. Spencer, J.W. Shuttleworth, Wm. Tempest, Hbt. Thompson, Fred Thornton, J.W. Varley, John Ward, J.A. Whittaker, J.W. Whittaker, and R.D. Whittaker.
The Unveiling Ceremony
The unveiling ceremony was presided over by Bro. Thos. Bellamy, and was performed by Bro. Amos Culpan, Prov. C.S., and a simple service included the singing of the hymns, ‘O God our help’ and Kipling’s Recessional, ‘God of our fathers,’ and the reading of a portion of Scripture, and the offering of a prayer by Bro. James Greenwood, of Bradford, and formerly of Skipton.
Bro. Bellamy observed that those members of the Lodge whom they were met to honour went into battle, suffered untold privations, and, in many cases, made the supreme sacrifice. They gave their lives in defence of their homes and their country. Further than that, they gave their lives for justice and freedom, and in order that we might live. It was the duty of Oddfellows, equally as much as other sections of the community, to do everything within their power to make the country better for that sacrifice. “In the time of our prosperity,” concluded Bro. Bellamy, “never let us forget those who served us in the time of our adversity.”
A Lesson of the War
Prior to unveiling the memorial, Bro. Culpan described the ceremony he had been asked to perform as one not unattended by sorrow. It was an occasion upon which one felt a desire to make their Order better for the sacrifice of its members, and to extend the true spirit of brotherhood. In nearly 4,000 of their Lodges they would find a roll of honour. Over 22,000 of their members made the supreme sacrifice, and thousands of others were ruined and shattered in health and without prospects for the future. Each and all of them ought to perform some daily service that would make the sacrifice of those men worth while. One result of the terrible ordeal of 1914 to 1918 was the creation of a better feeling between men, and a desire to break down the class barriers that formerly existed. That was one of the great lessons of the war.
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