William George BRADLEY

27 August 1915

ANOTHER SETTLE TERRITORIAL WOUNDED

The following letter written on August 20th has been received by Mrs. C. Bradley, of the Greenhead, Settle, from Mr. J. Sydney Hobson, Wesleyan chaplain with the 3rd West Riding Field Ambulance, 49th Division:- "I have just been having a talk with your son (William), and I promised him that I would write and let you know that he has been wounded this morning. The wound is not a dangerous one. He was hit by a piece of shell in the arm and legs, whilst rescuing a wounded officer. His left arm is broke, but it has already been set by one of the best surgeons out here, and in three months it will be as strong as it has ever been. He is very bright and cheerful, and is looking forward to being sent to England. He will leave here for a Casualty Clearing Station this afternoon or evening, and from there he will be sent to the base, and no doubt in time he will get home. He will write and let you know how he is getting on as soon as he gets settled. Until then it will be useless writing to him, as he may be on the move for some days, and letters following him around will probably be lost. I hope you will hear good news very soon. Don't worry, for there is no danger."

When war broke out Private Bradley was a drum-major in the Settle Cadet Corps, and was in training at Marske. He has two brothers who are also at the Front.

17 September 1915

BRADLEY - September 9th in Hospital at Boulogne, from wounds received in action, Private William George Bradley, son of Mrs. Clarissa Bradley, of Upper Settle, aged 21.

17 September 1915

SETTLE MAN DIES FROM WOUNDS

The news was received in Settle on Saturday morning last that Private William George Bradley had died in hospital in Boulogne on September 9th as a result of blood poisoning, arising from wounds received in action. The deceased, in attempting to rescue a wounded officer, had his left arm broken. He joined the Territorials at the outbreak of war, being then in camp with the Settle Cadets, in which he was the drum major. He was the son of Mrs. Clarissa Bradley of Upper Settle, aged 21 years. Mrs. Bradley (who has two other sons at the Front) went over to Boulogne on receipt of new that her son was worse, and stayed with him until he was buried, and she has nothing but praise for the kind attention paid to her boy. She wishes to thank all friends for their kind expressions of sympathy in her sad bereavement. It is a consolation to her that her son died doing his duty for his King and Country.

24 December 1915

CRAVEN'S ROLL OF HONOUR - SETTLE

Pte. William George Bradley, died from wounds received in action. Son of Mrs. Clarissa Bradley of Upper Settle. Aged 21 years.

04 January 1918

SETTLE'S FALLEN HEROES

Memorial Service at the Parish Church

A memorial service for the Settle soldiers who have fallen in the war was held at the Parish Church last Sunday afternoon. There was a large congregation, and the service was conducted by Rev. W. E. Linney (vicar). The hymns 'God of the living in Whose eyes,' 'Jesus lives,' 'On the resurrection morn,' and ' O God our help in aged past' were sung, and the 'Last Post' was sounded at the close of the service by two of the local Cadets. The organist (Mr. F. Lord) also played appropriate music as the congregation assembled and left the church.

The Vicar, in the course of his sermon, said they were met to remember the Settle soldiers, men, and boys - some indeed little more than boys - who had laid down their lives for the country at the war, whether during the year which was just drawing to a close or in the earlier stages of the conflict. When he asked them to remember those heroes that day, he knew that he was asking them to do what they were always doing. They were their own dear ones united to many of them by ties of blood - husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, as well as friends. How could they forget them? Were they not reminded of them day by day by the gaps in their home circles, which could never again be filled by them? They all desired in their hearts that God would bless and keep them, and give them peace. and happiness. The Vicar then read the following list of the Settle men who had laid down their lives:- John Edward Bell, Geo. S. Belles, Fredk. Baldwin, John Barrett, Robert Bateson, William Bradley, Frank Bulcock, George R. Bullock, Herbert Clark, John Cokell, Edward Ellershaw, Jas. Ewart, Wm. Ewart, Fredk. Frost, Harold Goss, Alfred Gower, Joseph Lord, John Morphet, John Packard, Chas. Peachey, Thomas Howarth Preston, Albert Ralph, Thos. Stackhouse, George Edward Turner, Derwent Turnbull, Wm. Troughton, Harry Walton, John Edward Wilson, Ernest Wooff, and Robert Wooff. Proceeding, the Vicar said they had a responsibility with regard to those men. They owed them a debt, and he trusted and believed that they were wishful to do all that they could to repay it. " Our lives are being saved by their death. If we have any future before us on the earth it is because they gave up their futures to secure it. Their right to survive was as good as our own. Many of them would have been of far more use in the world than we can hope to be. The future stands to be only poorer for our surviving in their stead. We are debtors to them for all they have given us. To the future think of all it has lost in them." How were they going to pay the debt, and in paying it to honour their heroic dead? Surely there could be but one answer - to live to give effect to their ideals. When they were asked what those ideals were, they might be well put in the words of Bishop Walshaw How's hymn written for the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria, "To make the world a better world for man's brief earthly dwelling." If Prussian militarism should gain the ascendancy the world would be scarcely a fit place to live in. What they wanted was the triumph of right and liberty. That was the task they had begun, and many of them, fired by the enthusiasm of a noble cause, literally went singing to their death. The old life which had no loftier aim than a high standard of material comfort had been felt to be unsatisfactory. To ardent youth the higher spirit of self-sacrifice, which was the spirit of Christ, beckoned onward with irresistible attractiveness, and they followed the gleam. They had yet to complete the great task to which they dedicated themselves. That was the way they could honour the memory of their fallen heroes, and with confidence that they had not died in vain.

A collection taken on behalf of the Red Cross Society realised £5 15s.