09 April 1915
ADDINGHAM MAN KILLED IN ACTION
The war has claimed its fourth victim from Addingham, the last man to die being Lance Corporal Walter Emmott, 2nd Battalion West Riding Regiment. The official notice was received from York Infantry office on Wednesday morning, stating that particulars had been received from the War Office that he had been killed in action, place not stated, on March 20th. The news of his death cast a gloom over the village. He was well known as captain of the football team, in which capacity he always rendered a good account of himself, being a dashing and resourceful full-back, his opponents always finding him a difficult problem to deal with. One cannot doubt that in the more serious game he was called upon to play he would do his part nobly and well.
14 May 1915
ADDINGHAM – BURIED IN FRANCE
Through the efforts of Mr. C.H. Fletcher, military representative for Silsden, Mrs. Emmott, the widow of the late Lance Corporal Walter Emmott, of Addingham, has received information that her husband was buried in the brick kiln yard in the village of Little Beke, on the frontier between France and Belgium, and that there is a wooden cross over his grave together with a bottle in which is a paper with his name, regiment and other particulars.
04 June 1915
LETTERS FROM ADDINGHAM MEN
Private F.R. Spencer, in a letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Spencer, Bolton Road, Addingham, says:– “I don’t think the war will last long, at least they don’t seem to think so out here. I hope so, for it is ‘Hell’s delight’. We must beat them, and we shall.”
In a letter to a friend he says:– I have been talking to a friend who was with Pont (meaning Lance Corporal W. Emmott) and who saw him killed. He had been asleep in the trench, and was just stretching his arms out when he was hit by a sniper.”
17 September 1015
ADDINGHAM SOLDIERS’ LETTERS
Mr.Flint has received the following letters in acknowledgement of parcels sent out:–
Bugler G. Strickland writes:– “Thanks for the parcel of cigarettes, which have arrived today. It is very hard lines about poor old Walter and Frank. When football is resumed on the Craven Heifer ground their faces will be sadly missed. I wonder who will be next of the old team to go… Thank the subscribers at Addingham for their kindness and thoughtfulness.”
24 December 1915
CRAVEN’S ROLL OF HONOUR – ADDINGHAM
Lance Corporal Walter Emmott, 2nd Battalion West Riding Regiment, killed in action in France on March 20th. Prior to the war he resided at Addingham and was captain of the football team. Employed at Lister and Company’s Low Mill, he was 22 years of age, and left a widow and young child.
14 April 1916
TO THE MEMORY OF ADDINGHAM COMRADES
The following lines have been written by Corpl. Sylvester Selby, R.E., of the British Expeditionary Force, France.
“To the memory of our dear comrades from Addingham who fought so valiantly, and died so nobly in the sacred cause of freedom, justice, and liberty.”
We shall meet our loved ones gone some sweet day bye and bye.
Be ye not weary in well doing, for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow, neither death.”
LOVED ONES GONE
Have they gone for ever, from us,
Shall we never see them more,
Never catch the gleam of sunshine
As they did in days of yore?
Why have they been taken from us
In the fullness of their youth,
When all earth seemed full of gladness
To young hearts all full of life?
Dragged from home, and friends, and loved ones,
In far distant lands to fight
For the glory of old England,
And for honour, and for right!
On the burning plains of Egypt,
On the muddy fields of France,
On the watery bogs of Flanders,
British boys have done their part.
Done it nobly, never murmuring,
In the cause of freedom’s right,
Battles, of most bloody nature.
They have fought with gallant hearts.
Men of England! Men of Empire!
Rise in this our common cause!
Come, and smite this haughty tyrant,
That he may no more defile
Heaven’s good gifts and mankind’s God.
As we march along the country
And the devastation see,
Ruined churches, shattered houses,
Graves, with little crosses fixed.
Make us cry “O God, in Heaven,
Let us of Thy vengeance see;
Give us strength that we may carry
Justice right to victory.
Men of England! Men of Empire!
Come and help us in the strife;
Help to win a glorious victory
For the weak and for the right.
Onward, ever always onward,
Till the common task is done,
Till to those who have so suffered
In the cause of freedom’s right
Have been surely liberated
From the thraldom of his might,
Till for brothers, gone before us,
He has paid a fearful toll.
Shall we ever more behold them
In that told-of spirit land?
Where they say there is no sorrow,
Neither death shall be no more?
Let us each be all the stronger
In the hope of such great gain,
Let us carry on our labour,
Sure we’ll meet our friends again.
Corporal Sylvester Selby, R.E.
France, April 8th, 1916.
12 April 1918
CRAVEN AND THE WAR
Private A. Emmott Killed
We regret to record that Mrs. Emmott, of School Lane, Addingham, has received information from her daughter-in-law, who resides at Chatham, that her son, Pte. Ambrose Emmott, has been killed in action in France. The sad information was received from a chum, who said he was killed instantly on March 21st last. Pte. Emmott, who was 35 years of age, had been in the Royal Marines 17 years, and at the outbreak of hostilities served in the Dardanelles, and was transferred to France, where he was wounded in February, 1916. Mrs. Emmott’s youngest son, Lance-Corpl. Walter Emmott, was killed in action in France on March 20th, 1915. The deceased leaves a widow and two children.
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