Home. Origins of the Battalion.
Page 1. Start of the First World War.
Page 2. To the Ypres Salient.
Page 3. Ypres. The Battle of St Julien.
Page 4. April 1915. Ypres. Gas.
Page 5. Battle of St Julien losses.
Page 6. New Division Name.
Page 7. The Battle of Bellewaarde.
Page 8. Bellewaarde Losses. Sanctuary Wood.
Page 9. Neuve Eglise, Kemmel Sector.
Page 10. August 1915. To Armentieres.
Page 11. Sep/Oct 1915. Armentieres.
Page 12. October 1915. Armentieres.
Page 13. Oct/Nov 1915. Armentieres.
Page 14. Nov/Dec 1915. To Merris.
Page 15. Back to the Ypres Salient.
Page 16. Jan 1916. Armagh Wood.
Page 17. Feb 1916. Hill 60.
Page 18. Mine Explosion.
Page 19. Feb 1916. Ypres. Hill 60.
Page 20. Armagh Wood. CO Killed.
Page 21. Mar/Apr 1916. Kemmel.
Page 22. Apr/May 1916. Fletre. Kemmel.
Page 23. June 1916. Friendly Fire Kemmel.
Page 24. Jun/Jul 1916. Kemmel.
Page 25. July 1916. Kemmel.
Page 26. Aug 1916. To the Somme.
Page 27. Battle of Flers Courcelette.
Page 28. Sep 1916. Flers-Courcelette.
Page 29. The Thiepval Memorial.
Page 30. Flers-Courcelette. Losses.
Page 31. Flers-Courcelette. Attack repelled.
Page 32.Training. Martinpuich.
Page 33. In the Line near Flers.
Page 34. Nov 1916. Martinpuich. Flers.
Page 35. Flers. To Belloy.
Page 36. Feb/Mar 1917. Belloy.
Page 37. April 1917. To Arras.
Page 38. Capt D.P. Hirsch. V.C.
Page 39. The Arras Memorial.
Page 40. The Arras Memorial.
Page 41. Arras Burial Sites.
Page 42. Arras. Famechon.
Page 43. May 1917. Famechon. Bayencourt.
Page 44. June 1917 Back in the Line. Arras.
Page 45. Sep 1917. Arras. Wancourt.
Page 46. Oct 1917. Back to Ypres.
Page 47. Nov 1917. Passchendaele.
Page 48. Jan 1918. Ypres.
Page 49. Feb 1918. Last of Ypres.
Page 50. The Battle of St Quentin.
Page 51. German Offensive. Michael.
Page 52. German Advance. Pozieres Memorial.
Page 53. Losses on both sides.
Page 54. From the Somme to the Lys.
Page 55. April 1918. Battle of Estaires.
Page 56. Ploegsteert Memorial.
Page 57. From the Lys to the Aisne.
Page 58. German Offensive. Blucher-Yorck.
Page 59. May 1918. 150th Brigade decimated.
Page 60. End of the 4th Yorks.
Page 61. Last Weeks of War.
Page 62. Prisoners of War.
Page 63. Prisoners of War.
Page 64. Prisoners of War.
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APRIL 1915. YPRES. GAS.
26 APRIL. The Battalion spent two days at Camp "A" between Vlamertinghe and Ypres, during which time they were shelled intermittently.
Lt A Beresford-Peirse and 8 others were wounded.
27 APRIL.
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1613 Pte Moody Harold. Home at Lingdale N Yorks. Born Eston Yorks and enlisted at Skelton in Cleveland, N Yorks. Died of wounds, presumably received on the 24th. He is buried at Longuenesse Military [Hospital] Cemetery, St Omer.
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28 APRIL. The Battalion was ordered to relieve the 5th Yorks Bn in trenches on the Northern side of the Fortuin to Passchendaele road.
They had a rough time getting forward and did not get there until the 30th.
2 Companies were attached to the Kings Somerset Light Infantry and the other 2 to the London Rifle Brigade.
The march to the trenches is described as going through hell on earth, by now strewn with dead animals and bits of everything recognisable in the way of equipment.
They had to pass through the village of St Jean which was "utterly destroyed and slightly more objectionable than Ypres; church gutted, graveyard shelled and a heap of coffins and battered headstones."
The trenches had been quickly made and provided poor protection - "very bad, narrow, with scarcely any traverses, nothing at all behind and only funk holes for shelter". 5 days of fighting with many losses followed.
The then Chief of Staff of the British Army, Sir John French, had realised that following the German gains of the 22nd April the situation of troops in the Ypres Salient was perilous. While Battalions such as the 4th Yorks were holding the Germans, others were furiously digging a new line of trenches to which all would fall back on May the 3rd. |
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 | The Road to Ypres through Vlamertinghe, 1915.
Etching by Canadian Lieut C H Barraud.
29 APRIL.
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2884 Pte Hicks William Arthur. Home at - 29 Tees [St, East Loftus, N Yorks, place of enlistment. Killed in action. Age 29. Menin Gate Memorial Ypres. "A" Company.
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1740 Pte Robinson John Robert. Born at Redcar and enlisted at Yarm N Yorks. Killed in action. Age 25. Menin Gate Memorial Ypres.
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1238 Drummer Rogers John William. Born and enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks. Died of wounds. Boulogne [Hospital] Eastern Cemetery.
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30 APRIL.
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1830 Pte Rust Edward. Home at The Vicarage, Hamsteels, Co Durham. Born at Gateshead on Tyne. Enlisted at Catterick, N Yorks. Died of wounds. Age 19. Buried at Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, Casualty clearing cemetery, 56k South East of Ypres.
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1270 Pte Wilson John. Home at Grangetown, Middlesbrough. Born Eston. Enlisted Normanby. Killed in action. Menin Gate Memorial Ypres.
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1 MAY.
The following 6 men gave their lives this day and are remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial:-
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1915 Pte Easom John. Home at 31 Wood St, Grangetown, N Yorks. Born and enlisted at Eston, N Yorks. Killed in action. Age 27.
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394 Pte Jarvis Frank. Home at - 33 Gladstone St, Eston, N Yorks, place of birth and enlistment. Killed in action. Age 29.
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 | Sir John French was Chief of Staff of the British Army from the start of the War in August 1914.
In December 1915, he was replaced by Sir Douglas Haig.
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2407 Pte Peterson Harold. Home at Sunderland, Co Durham, place of birth. Enlisted at Northallerton, N Yorks. Died of wounds.
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1939 Pte Sellers William. Home at Eston N Yorks, place of birth. Enlisted at Normanby, N Yorks. Killed in action.
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1667 Pte Smith Raymond George. Born at Boosbeck, N Yorks and enlisted at Guisborough, N Yorks. Killed in action. Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.
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575 L/Cpl Wanless James Joseph. Born and enlisted at Eston N Yorks. Killed in action.
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2 MAY.
From noon until 4pm the Germans kept up a constant hail of shells.
Then once again they released chlorine gas. It was now less of a surprise and the troops had improvised respirators "made of cotton-wool, handkerchiefs, mufflers and even towels soaked in soda or whatever moisture was available."
The line held and frustrated all German attempts to take advantage of the gas.
By 8pm all was quiet again.
The Battalion War Diary states that during this period 6 officers were wounded and one gassed.
34 other ranks were killed and 74 wounded.
[The names and dates of death given here are taken from "Soldiers Died in the Great War".]
The Diary makes special mention of Major H.L. De Legh for his gallantry in getting 15 wounded men out of a burning cellar which had been set on fire by the enemy's artillery. |
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