William GARNER

09 November 1917

GARNER – October 1917, killed in action in France, Private William Garner, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, husband of Mrs. Garner, Park Lane, Cowling.

09 November 1917

COWLING – POPULAR SOLDIER GOES WEST

Mrs. Wm. Garner, Park Lane, Cowling, has received information that her husband, Private William Garner, of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, has been killed in action in France. Pte. Garner, who was a weaver at Messrs. Woodworth’s Hollingrave Mill, Burnley, voluntarily joined the forces in October 1915, and went out to France in July 1916. He was in an English Hospital for some time in the early part of this year suffering from wounds. Mrs. Garner has received a letter from the officer commanding his platoon stating:– “Although he had only been in the battalion three months, he had made himself a great favourite with all the company. He was one of the most sensible men in my platoon, and his delightful Lancashire humour was always prominent, even under the most adverse conditions. I hope the knowledge of his popularity with both officers and men will be some small consolation to you, and that you will be able to bear your loss as cheerfully as possible knowing that your husband has done his best to bring this war to an end. He died instantaneously while advancing across ‘No Man’s Land’. With the best of sympathy, Yours sincerely, ROBERT H. TELF. Second-Lieut.”

09 November 1917

COWLING – The Late Lieut. Hall-Watt

On Sunday morning at the Parish Church, the Vicar conducted a memorial service to the memory of the late Second Lieutenant R. Hall-Watt of the Grenadier Guards. The choir sang the anthem ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace’. The deceased officer was the eldest son and heir of the late Mr. E. B. B. Hall-Watt, of Bishop Burton, Beverley, and of Carr Head, Cowling. He was killed in action on October 13th in Flanders, and was 19 years of age. Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, the deceased was posted to the Grenadier Guards in the early part of this year, and went out to France in August last. His decease is greatly lamented in the district, as it was hoped when he came of age he would have taken a personal interest in the Carr Head Estate.

The ‘Last Post’ was sounded by the buglers from the Church Lads’ Brigade, Colne. Col. Eyre and Mrs. Eyre (of Bishop Burton Hall, Beverley, the mother of the deceased officer), and also Mr. A. Hall-Watt, the deceased’s only brother, were represented by Mr. T. Washington Chambers, of Brighouse, the agent for the Carr Head and Morton Estates of the trustees of the late E.B.B. Hall-Watt, of Bishop Burton, the father of the deceased. A similar memorial service has been held at Bishop Burton Church on the 1st inst. The service at Cowling was also in memory of Gunner Coulson Fryer, Privates William Garner, Walter Snowden, and George Thorpe, all of Cowling, who have recently laid down their lives for King and Country. The Vicar alluded in feeling terms to the great loss which the relatives of the deceased officer and men had sustained.