SKELTON - IN - CLEVELAND
IN HISTORY
1917

Cpl Herbert Cook.


Cpl Harry Leeks.
11th January - Near Bapaume. Somme.
Death of HARRY LEEKS, 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 57 Wharton St, N Skelton.

15th January - Near Albert, Somme.
Death of HERBERT COOK 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
[He was a stretcher bearer and had, a few months earlier, been awarded the Military Medal]
of 51 Park St, Skelton.

1st February - Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare to blockade Britain.
This turned out to be bad policy as it affected American shipping and brought them into the war - leading in 1918 to Germany's downfall.

Feb/March - The local 4th Yorks Battalion were moved to the extreme right of the British line and took over trenches from French at Foucaucourt.

6th April. America declared war on Germany.
9th April - The Arras offensive.
The British launched a large scale attack at Arras in support of a larger plan by the French.
It was against the formidable Hindenberg line to which the Germans had made a strategic withdrawal.
The struggle continued on until May in several phases, opening with the Battle of Vimy and then the three Battles of the Scarpe (a river in that region).

Lines of supply.
The final Battle of Bullecourt brought this "push" to an end and like all the others, it started well only to become bogged down in a stalemate with terrible loss of life.

1st to 12th April - The local 4th Yorks Bn marched by arduous daily slogs to Arras.

12th April - Near Arras.
Death of GEORGE BATTERBEE, 10th/11th Highland Light Infantry.
of 37 Wharton St, N Skelton.

19th April - Near Ypres.
Death of PARKER WALKER, 9th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 3 East Terrace, Skelton.

23rd April - All 4 of the following near Arras.
Death of ROBERT ARCHER, 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 22 Boosbeck Rd, Skelton Green.
Death of HARRY DALE, 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 24 Wharton St, N Skelton.

Death of HERBERT ARTHUR DOWEY, 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 44 Park St, Skelton.

Death of WILLIAM DOWEY 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 13 Prospect Place, Skelton.

4th July - Death of Steward FRANK HANSON, Mercantile Marine, of 11 Vaughan St, North Skelton. His ship, the SS Goathland [Whitby], was sunk by a German U-boat 30 miles off St Nazaire.

16th July - The British launched an offensive in Flanders, commonly called the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele.

Stretcher bearers in knee deep in mud.
The battle began with a huge barrage of Allied artillery.

This bombardment warned the Germans of the coming attack, but it also turned the battlefield into a mess of craters.
Heavy rains in August then transformed the area into a sea of mud.

The offensive continued regardless until November with drastic losses of life.

3rd May - Both of following near Arras
Death of JAMES HARDING, 18th Bn Durham Light Infantry,
of 25 Dixon St, Skelton.

Death of GEORGE R PULFORD, 8th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment,
of 23 Park St, Skelton.

18th May - Near Arras.
Death of WALTER SWAINSTON, Royal Field Artillery.
of 21 Richard St, N Skelton.

Fighting in Mud.
8th June - Near Arras.
Death of BERNARD S SCUFFHAM, 10Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry,
of 49 Harker St, Skelton Green.

13 June - Near Ypres.
Death of ROBERT E GARBUTT, 9th Bn West Yorkshire Regiment, Prince of Wales's Own,
of 9 Vaughan St, N Skelton.

14th August - Near Arras.
Death of POWELL LINES, 1/5th Durham Light Infantry,
of 41 Park St, Skelton.

16th August - Near Ypres.
Death of WILLIAM HARDING, 12th Bn, Kings Royal Rifle Corps,
of 25 Dixon St, Skelton.

10th September - Near Ypres.
Death of PETER E GOSLING, 9th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 13 Wharton St, N Skelton.

7th October - Armentieres,
Death of JAMES W BULMER, 27th (Tyneside Irish) Bn Northumberland Fusiliers,
of 6 East Parade, Skelton.

9th October - Near Ypres.

Shell shelter - Ypres.
Death of JOHN R LECKENBY, 1/4th Bn York and Lancaster Regiment.
of 22 Trouthall Lane, Skelton Green.

15 October - Near Ypres.
Death of CHARLES H MOTT, 9th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 30 William St, N Skelton.

6th to 25th October - The local 4th Yorks Battalion moved from Arras to Ypres, where they fought until the following March.

16th October. London Gazette. Bankruptcy.
Sidney William Carver of 42 Boosbeck Rd, Skelton Green, Confectioner petitioned for bankruptcy at the Court of Stockton on Tees.

26th October - Near Ypres.
Death of ROBERT H BELL, 10th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 24 Bolckow St, N Skelton.
29th October - Near Ypres.
Death of JOSEPH ATKINSON, 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
Address not found.

1st November - Near Ypres.
Death of WILLIAM ELSWORTH, 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment,
of 32 Green Rd, Skelton.

30th December - Somme area.
Death of WILLIAM E MILLS, Royal Naval Division,
of 7 North Tce, Skelton.

December - After the Bolshevik Revolution of November in Russia, Lenin took control and started separate peace talks with Germany.
This allowed Germany to transfer all its efforts on the Allies on the Western Front in 1918.

Raising iron stone at Longacre Mine ceased, but men still went down the shaft there [313 feet] and the output was brought up at North Skelton, being sent down a mile long, underground incline.

Iron and steel was vital to the war effort, but production must have continued in these Ironstone mines with half the normal work force considering the number of men in the forces.
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