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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MARCH/APRIL 1918. FROM THE RIVER SOMME TO THE RIVER LYS.
29th MARCH. "At 5 p.m the Btn was ordered to report at point 9.0 East of Mezieres. The strength of the Btn was now about 300. On arriving at a point about 600 yards North of Mailly Raineval on the Mailly Morisel road at 10 p.m we were informed that the enemy occupied Moruiel. The Btn therefore withdrew to the wood West of Mailly where the night was spent."
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240393 L/Cpl Fisher Harold. Home at 54 Harehills Tce, Roundhay Rd, Leeds, Born and enlisted at Norton, Malton, N Yorks. Killed in action. Age 21. Buried at Hangard Communal Cemetery Extension.
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33162 Pte Fowler Herbert. Home at Eastbourne, Kent. Born at Tunbridge Wells and enlisted in Paris, France. Died of wounds. Buried at St Sever [Hospital] Cemetery Extension, Rouen. Ex R West Kent Regt.
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30th MARCH. "At 8 a.m. the Btn left the wood to return to the Transport Lines at Jumel. On arriving there we were informed that the Transport had moved to Boves. We therefore marched to Boves, arriving there at 6.30 p.m to find that the Transport Lines had moved to Sains En Amienois. The night was spent at Boves. Casualties Lt H.L. Harrison wounded and missing." |
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The British retreat of March 1918 continued until the Germans were within five miles of Amiens.
The 4th Yorks Btn withdrew on the green line and on the 29/30th, after a move back to Mailly, were ordered to retire to Jumel.
From there they marched via Boves to Amiens, where they were entrained to move North to the West of Abbeville to rest and receive reinforcements.
Little did they know another German offensive soon awaited them on the River Lys.
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202953 Cpl Lawn Geoffrey. Home at - 358 Tong Rd, Wortley, Leeds, place of enlistment. Born Capetown, South Africa. Died of wounds. Age 23. Buried at St Sever [Hospital] Cemetery Extension, Rouen.
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31st MARCH. "Left Boves at 10.45 a.m. and arrived at Sains En Amienois at 12.30 p.m. Marched to Saleux and entrained for Rue where we detrained about 11.30 p.m and marched to Billets at Estrees Le Crecy. "
Casualties for the month:-
Officers killed in action were Lt Col B H Charlton M.C., Major H Brown D.S.O. M.C., Capt and Adj J.S. Bainbridge, A/Capt D Spurway, A/Capt C N Carlton Stiff, 2 Lt T A Hyslop M.C., Lt S R Dobinson.
Officers wounded were Lt M W Macnay, 2 Lt J G Hardwick, 2 Lt T L Benyon, Lt R Edwards, Lt H L Harrison, 2 Lt W Fletcher, 2 Lts W L Snowball, N Scorer, A R Stein, D J E Lamb M.C., R Campbell.
Officers missing were A/Capt A R Powys, 2 Lts G A Green, W E Cook and W L Thornton.
Other ranks - 24 killed, 147 wounded, 168 missing, 10 wounded and missing, Total 349.
Reinforcements were Lt S R Dobinson, Major A Graham and 47 other ranks.
Effective strength at 1st was 41 officers and 980 other ranks and at 31st 20 Officers and 646 other ranks. |
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As the German offensive on the Somme ground to a halt on the 5/6th April another opened on the Front between Ypres and Bethune
Within days the 4th Battalion, exhausted and with many raw recruits were back facing the Storm troopers.
1st to 4th APRIL The German attack on the Somme exhausted itself and settled back into "normal" trench warfare. But to the North on the Lys intelligence warned that another was being prepared. The Battalions received reinforcements, often untrained youths and older men who had had to be re-classified as fit for duty. The Btn strength had been brought up to 11 Officers and 787 other ranks, but as the Brigade HQ Diary points out they consisted of those who had barely recovered from the strenuous fighting on the Somme and those who had not been properly trained and assimilated.
The 4th Yorks Btn had little time in billets at Estrees Le Crecy to reorganise before they were taken by bus to Bethune where they stayed in billets until Sunday, the 7th April.
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235132 Pte Cranston James. Home at South Otterington, Northallerton, town of enlistment. Died of wounds on the 1st. Age 23. Buried at Namps Au Val British Cemetery.
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201752 Pte Davison Ernest, Oswald. Home at 454 Linthorpe Rd, Middlesbrough, N Yorks, town of enlistment. Killed in action - date given as 2nd April. Age 19. Buried at Pont Du Hem Military Cemetery La Gorgue.
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203809 CSM Atkinson Herbert. Home in Saltburn, N Yorks. Born Eaglescliffe, Co Durham. Enlisted at Northallerton. Died of wounds on the 6th. Age 27. Buried at Eaglescliffe Churchyard. Awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Bar.
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241214 Pte Carrick Harold. Of Ross Hull. Died of wounds on the 6th. Age 21. Buried at St Sever Cemetery Extension Rouen.
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8th APRIL Early in the morning orders were received to leave Bethune and the Btn travelled by light railway to Rue Montigny. In the evening orders were received that 50th Division was to relieve the Portuguese Army in the line the following night. |
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German Troops moving to the Front.
[Picture from - "Das Archiv zum 1. Weltkrieg ".]
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47338 Pte Smeeton Albert. Born and enlisted at Nottingham. Died at home. Age 26. Buried at Nottingham General Cemetery.
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203053 Pte Parsons George. Home at Jersey, Channel Islands, place of birth. Enlisted at Stepney, London. Killed in action. Commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial.
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9th APRIL At 4 a.m a furious German bombardment commenced all along the line from Bethune to Armentieres.
Shells plunged into the little town of Estaires, in which normal civilian life had until then been continuing.
Diary - "At 7.0 a.m the Battalion was placed under one hours notice to move. During the morning marched to Trou Bayard, where the 150th Brigade was to concentrate.
Arrived there about noon. Ordered to hold a line West of the River Lys at Sailly Sur La Lys. Position reached about 2 p.m and [under heavy shell fire] digging commenced. Our front ran from Rouge Maison Farm on the right to the temporary bridge South of the factory on the left. 3 Companies were put in the line and one kept in Reserve at Battalion HQ. 4th East Yorks were on our right and 21st Middlesex were on our left. We destroyed a foot-bridge on our front and the Royal Engineers had a party under an Officer ready to blow up the bridge at Sailly. At about 4 p.m. all British and Portuguese troops on the East of the River Lys had withdrawn. The R.E's tried to blow up the bridge at Sailly but failed to do so. The bridge, however, was held by our posts and the enemy suffered heavy casualties in attempting to cross it. About this time the enemy crossed the River Lys some distance to the North of our position and during the evening he formed a line at right angles to our front, running along the road from Bac St Maur - Croix Du Bac - Pt Vanuxeem. The enemy was held on this line throughout the night."
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35109 Pte Church Victor, George. Home at Brington Hunts. Born Barham Hants and enlisted Huntingdon. Killed in action. Buried at Pont Du Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue. Ex 35418 T R Battn.
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35161 Pte Haw Joseph, Clarence. Home at - Horbury W Yorks. Born at Wold Newton, Yorks and enlisted at Wakefield. Killed in action. Buried at Pont Du Hem Military Cemetery La Gorgue. Ex T R Battn.
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35328 Pte Monether Arthur, Percy. Home at 40 Grove St, Bootle, Liverpool. Enlisted at Waterloo. Killed in action. Age 18. Buried at Croix Du Bac British Cemetery, Steenwerck. Ex 74 T R Battn.
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43508 Pte Rowe Frank, Leonard. Home at 9 Wormald St, Huddersfield, Yorks, place of birth. Enlisted at Halifax, Yorks. Killed in action. Age 18. Buried at Croix Du Bac British Cemetery. Steenwerck. Ex 87th T R Battn.
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43601 Pte Sargeant Herbert. Home at West Field Cottages, Cliffe, Selby, Yorks Killed in action. Age 18. Buried at Croix Du Bac British Cemetery, Steenwerck.
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240569 Pte Thorpe Thomas, Richard. Home at 83 Ainsworth Rd, Radclife, Lancs. Born at Pocklington Yorks, place of birth. Enlisted at Scarborough. Died of wounds. Age 24. Buried at La Kreule Military Cemetery Hazebrouck.
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