The Ypres Salient April 22nd 1915.
|
On the 25th General Sir H Plumer, commanding II Corps sent a special messenger to thank the 4th Yorks for the
good work that they had done.
The Division History says -
"On through Fortuin the two Battalions went, next encountering the enemy in
force advancing south of St Julien.
They forced the enemy to give ground and drove him back into the village.
They then found themselves up against a muddy stream, known as the Hannebeek, on the southern exists of
St Julien and, the crossings being swept by heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, the two Battalions were forced to
take what cover presented itself.
Casualties during this affair were severe, but the counter-attack was
completely successful and, besides preventing the Germans from making any further advance on the 24th reflected
the greatest credit upon the two gallant Battalions."
The Division Memorial is erected in St Julien in memory of this gallant attack.
In the days action the Battalion lost:-
Major H.C. Matthews. Capt J.V. Nancarrow. Lt L.P. I'Anson and 2nd Lt E Darwin killed.
2nd Lt H.B Blackett wounded.
10 other ranks were killed and 59 wounded.
In very wet conditions, at 8pm, they reached trenches South of the Potijze Chateau. There they had another man killed and
some slightly wounded.
Captain Gilbert, Davidson, Pitt Eykyn. Killed in action. Age 34.
|
Germans at the village of Fortuin.
|
Potijze Chateau.
The area to which the Bn withdrew after holding the Germans at St Julien.
|
Lt Leonard Percy I'Anson.
Killed in action on the 24th April 1915.
[Photograph kindly contributed by Kevin Galloway of Thornaby, who also sent a local newspaper report of these times.
Click here.]
|
Captain Eykyn was attached to the 4th Btn from the Royal Scots.
He was born in Bombay, India, on 22nd April 1881,
the only son of the Late Reverend Pitt Eykyn and Mrs Eykyn, of 82 Prince of Wales Mansions, Battersea Park,
London.
He was married on 28th November 1902 to Emily Constance and they had one son, Duncan Arthur, who was born on 11th August
1906.
They lived at "The Cottage" Northallerton, though after the War his wife and son moved to Fir Lodge, in South Parade,
Northallerton.
He was a professional soldier, having served first of all with the 3rd Loyal North Lancashire Regiment with whom he
obtained his commission in 1899. He then joined the 4th Manchester Battalion in 1901.
He served with the Manchesters during the Boer War where he was awarded the Queens Medal with 3 clasps ; "Cape Colony",
"Wittenbergen", and "Transvaal".
In 1904 he joined the Royal Scots and on 13th February 1913 he was appointed as adjutant of 4th Yorkshire Regiment in
Northallerton, shortly after which he was promoted to the rank of Captain on 26th June 1913.
He was a gifted linguist and had passed Army examinations in French, Russian and Hindustanti.
2Lt Erasmus Darwin. Age 33. Killed in action,
Son of Horace and Ida Darwin, of The Orchard, Cambridge. Grandson of naturalist Charles Darwin and statistician
Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer. Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial. Before the War he lived at Saltburn, N Yorks
and worked as Secretary for Bolckow and Vaughan ironstone Company, Middlesbrough.
Major Harold Carey Matthews. Age 36. Killed in action.
He had been awarded King George's Coronation Medal and served in the Boer War. Son of F. W. W. Matthews, J.P.; husband of Marjory Forster Woodhouse
(formerly Matthews), of 23, Inverleith Place, Edinburgh. Buried in Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.
Lt Leonard Percy I'Anson. Killed in action. Aged 38. Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.
|
Youngest son of Mr and
Mrs W I'Anson of Bardencroft, Saltburn, N Yorks. From 1913 he had been Commanding Officer of the Skelton "G" Company and
had his own business as a Solicitor in Middlesbrough. He was engaged to Elsie, the sister of the three Constantine
brothers, who were all Officers in the 4th Battalion.
Capt John Vivian Nancarrow. Age 30. Killed in action. Son of George Bennett Nancarrow and Charlotte Alice
Nancarrow, of "Ravenscroft," Grove Hill, Middlesbrough. He was a Solicitor since 1910 and practised in Middlesbrough before the War.
Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.
|
The Menin Gate Memorial.
It contains the names of 54,896 officers and men of the British and Commonwealth forces
who fell in the Ypres Salient before 16 August 1917.
77 of these are men of the 1/4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regt.
They have no known grave either because they were missing in action or more usually that they had been properly buried
and their graves subsequently destroyed by shelling.
[Cemetery/Memorial photos by kind permission of -
"WW1Cemeteries.com"].
|
The following soldiers gave their lives at this time, They have no known grave and are commemorated on the Menin Gate
Memorial:-
2785 Pte Renals George Henry. Home at Middlesbrough, N Yorks. Born at Newport. Monmouthshire.
Enlisted at Northallerton, N Yorks. Killed in action. Age 22.
1321 Pte Dodsworth Henry. Home at - 21 Railway Tce, Sowerby, Thirsk, N Yorks, place of birth and enlistment.
Killed in action. Age 20.
1649 Pte Bone Samuel. Home at - 2 Kent St, Middlesbrough, town of birth and enlistment. Killed in action.
Age 19.
788 Cpl Caton John Thomas. Home at - Garden House, Stokesley N Yorks, place of birth and enlistment. Killed in action.
Age 30.
2388 Pte Devlin Patrick. Home at Port Clarence, Middlesbrough, town of enlistment. Killed in action.
1063 Pte Doughty David. Home at Eaglescliffe village Durham. Born and enlisted at Yarm, N Yorks. Killed in action.
1724 Pte Flintoff Charles. Home at - 43 Tennyson St, Gateshead on Tyne. Born Newcastle on Tyne and
enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks. Killed in action. Age 19.
|
Menin Gate.
|
1519 Pte Goldsborough Ralph. Born and enlisted at Bedale N Yorks. Killed in action.
1244 Pte Hubbert Arthur. Home at - Eaglescliffe Durham, place of birth. Enlisted at Yarm, N Yorks. Killed in action.
6 Sgt Kinchin Harry. Home at - 11 Castle Hill, Richmond N Yorks, place of birth and enlistment. Killed in action.
Age 34.
1490 Pte Miller Charles William. Born and enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks. Killed in action.
2039 Pte Wright Charles Enlisted at Guisborough. N Yorks. Killed in action.
Buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
100 CQMS Barr Frederick Home at Newby, Nunthorpe, Yorks. Born and enlisted at Stokesley. Died of wounds.
Age 43. He had served in the Boer War.
|
L/Sgt Joseph Taylor.
Killed in action, 25th April 1915.
|
202 L/Sgt Taylor Joseph. Of Quaker Lane, Northallerton, N Yorks, place of birth and enlistment.
Killed in action. Age 28.
Joseph worked as a lengthman on the North Eastern Railway.
He had served with the volunteers before the formation of the Territorial Force and had a total of 11 years
service when he was killed.
Joe left a wife, Sarah and they lived at Long Lane Gates, Brompton, N Yorks.
Captain Stead wrote to his family:-
"Sergeant Taylor, along with his Company Commander, Major Matthews, were the first of their Battalion to fall for
their Country.
His rapid promotion shows the confidence that was placed in him.
He was an excellent soldier and a
brave man."
[Photo and information courtesy of - Northallerton Memorials
Project.]
|
The book "Service of Solicitors and Articled Clerks 1914-18" states that Capt Basil Jackson was wounded at this time.
[He had been a Solicitor since 1905 and had his own firm in Middlesbrough, Jackson and Monk. He had been a Captain with the Battalion before
the War and went on to achieve high rank. He was promoted to Major in this month and was a Staff Captain to August 1916 when he became
Brigade-Major of the 142nd Infantry Brigade to Jan 1917. From Jan to Dec 1917 he was attached to the British Mission to the Portuguese
Expeditionary Force when he became G.S.O. of VII Corps to the end of the War. He was awarded the D.S.O. T.D. and the Ancient Order of Aviz
of Portugal.]
|
|
