Tyne Cot Memorial.
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At the census of 1901, William, aged 7, was living at 25 Dixon St
and had been born in Skelton.
His father, who worked as an Ironstone miner, came from Hutton Le Hole,
N Yorks and his mother from
Skelton.
He had a brother James 15, and six sisters - Jane 13, Annie 11, Ada 9,
Mary 5, Frances 3 and Lena 1
James was killed in the war on th 3rd May 1917 and is remembered on the
Arras Memorial.
The 12th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps was formed
in Winchester on September 21st 1914
and was attached to 60th Brigade, 20th (Light) Division.
At the time of William's death the Division fought in the Third Battle
of Ypres.
An offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German
attention from a weakened French front further south.
The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines
Ridge was a complete success,
but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July,
quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the
rapidly deteriorating weather.
The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of
Passchendaele.
His body was never recovered and he is remembered on the Tyne Cot
Memorial.
This lists 35,000 men who have no known grave and stands at the
furthest point of the Western advance in Flanders
before the armistice was signed.
All around the graves of the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the World.
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