The personal histories of the men and women of Pudsey who laid down their lives in service of their Country.
Second Lieutenant Major William Booth (b10th December 1886 in Lowtown).
Major Booth, second son of James and Louisa Booth. His father James, the famous grocer and storekeeper had two shops on Lowtown Pudsey, his name now graces Booth’s Yard. Major was a first class cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. His first cricket was played at Fulneck School and he went on to represent Pudsey St.Lawrence and Wath Athletic Club, which played in the Mexborough League (he was working as an Electrical Engineer at the nearby Colliery). In 1910 he secured a regular place in the Yorkshire first team and in 1911 he scored 1,125 runs for his county and took seventy-four wickets, with a highest innings of 210 against Worcestershire.
He increased his reputation as a bowler in the following summer, and in 1913 made over a thousand runs and took 158 wickets for Yorkshire, his aggregate of 181 wickets in first-class matches being the highest of any bowler that season. Because of this stellar performance he was selected for the Players at Lord's and the tour squad for South Africa. The outbreak of War in July 1914 curtailed a promising career.
Major Booth joined the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince Of Wales's Own) 15th Battalion (Leeds Pals) and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 16 July 1915, having initially been a Sergeant. He first served in Egypt from 22 December 1915 before being shipped to the Western Front. The Pals went "over the top" during the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916, followed a short while later by another wave of soldiers one of whom was Abe Waddington (later also Yorkshire and England). Waddington was hit and found himself in a shell hole with the fatally injured Booth. Waddington held Booth until he died. Stretcher bearers were able to rescue Waddington later in the day, but Booth's body remained in the shell hole until the following spring. His body was only identified by the MCC cigarette case he carried in his pocket. Major Booth is buried in Serre Road Cemetery No.1 in France.
Memorabilia kindly supplied by Martin Bradford. Photos of the wreath laying ceremony at Major’s grave from the MENIN 1000 Ride to Remember.
Major Booth, second son of James and Louisa Booth. His father James, the famous grocer and storekeeper had two shops on Lowtown Pudsey, his name now graces Booth’s Yard. Major was a first class cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. His first cricket was played at Fulneck School and he went on to represent Pudsey St.Lawrence and Wath Athletic Club, which played in the Mexborough League (he was working as an Electrical Engineer at the nearby Colliery). In 1910 he secured a regular place in the Yorkshire first team and in 1911 he scored 1,125 runs for his county and took seventy-four wickets, with a highest innings of 210 against Worcestershire.
He increased his reputation as a bowler in the following summer, and in 1913 made over a thousand runs and took 158 wickets for Yorkshire, his aggregate of 181 wickets in first-class matches being the highest of any bowler that season. Because of this stellar performance he was selected for the Players at Lord's and the tour squad for South Africa. The outbreak of War in July 1914 curtailed a promising career.
Major Booth joined the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince Of Wales's Own) 15th Battalion (Leeds Pals) and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 16 July 1915, having initially been a Sergeant. He first served in Egypt from 22 December 1915 before being shipped to the Western Front. The Pals went "over the top" during the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916, followed a short while later by another wave of soldiers one of whom was Abe Waddington (later also Yorkshire and England). Waddington was hit and found himself in a shell hole with the fatally injured Booth. Waddington held Booth until he died. Stretcher bearers were able to rescue Waddington later in the day, but Booth's body remained in the shell hole until the following spring. His body was only identified by the MCC cigarette case he carried in his pocket. Major Booth is buried in Serre Road Cemetery No.1 in France.
Memorabilia kindly supplied by Martin Bradford. Photos of the wreath laying ceremony at Major’s grave from the MENIN 1000 Ride to Remember.
Private Charles Galloway Greaves, Born September 29th 1892, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince Of Wales's Own) 15th Battalion Leeds Pals, service number:15/1601.
Son of John William and Maria Greaves, 72 Smalewell Road Pudsey.
Lived at 58 Smalewell Road, Pudsey and was employed as a vanman at the time of his enlistment. Trained at Colsterdale in North Yorkshire, he served in Egypt and France. Died aged only 23 on 1st July 1916 alongside the other members of 15th Battalion from Pudsey:
Major Booth, William Henry Grassby and John William Jessop.
He is buried in Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France.
Also pictured here is his only son John, who was 1 year old when his Father died. John went on to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. His service saw him with the Ordnance section for the 8th Army. This took him to Bombay, North Africa, Palestine and Italy then into Germany. He was finally present at the liberation of the Belsen Concentration camp and subsequently the Nuremberg trials.
Photograph and history kindly supplied by Mark Greaves.
Son of John William and Maria Greaves, 72 Smalewell Road Pudsey.
Lived at 58 Smalewell Road, Pudsey and was employed as a vanman at the time of his enlistment. Trained at Colsterdale in North Yorkshire, he served in Egypt and France. Died aged only 23 on 1st July 1916 alongside the other members of 15th Battalion from Pudsey:
Major Booth, William Henry Grassby and John William Jessop.
He is buried in Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France.
Also pictured here is his only son John, who was 1 year old when his Father died. John went on to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. His service saw him with the Ordnance section for the 8th Army. This took him to Bombay, North Africa, Palestine and Italy then into Germany. He was finally present at the liberation of the Belsen Concentration camp and subsequently the Nuremberg trials.
Photograph and history kindly supplied by Mark Greaves.
RICHARDSHAW LANE SIXTEEN YEAR OLD SOLDIER KILLED IN ACTION
(Excerpt from the Pudsey & Stanningley News July 7th 1916).
“News was received on Tuesday evening by Mr and Mrs Harry Wharton of 5 West Street, Richardshaw Lane, that their son Private Harry Wharton, had been killed in action “Somewhere in France,“ on June 26th. (This infact occurred on the St. Julian Road just outside Ypres in Belgium, he was with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry).
Private Wharton who was sixteen years of age on the 9th of May enlisted in February of this year and had been in France 7 weeks. Before joining the colours he was a member of the Springfield Mills company of Scouts. He comes of a soldier family. A brother of his Private Abraham Ellis has been serving in France for 17 months with the Scottish Borderers and his father has served twelve years in the Royal Field Artillery, serving for a long period of time in India. The news came as a great shock as his parents had been under the impression that he was to be sent back to England until he reached the age of 19 years. Mrs Wharton was so prostrated with the news that she had to take to her bed.”
The Regimental Diary of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 7th Bn. for 26th June 1916 reads: ”A wet day… The Battalion relieved the 10th Rifle Brigade in the trenches. Owing to hostile shell fire of roads the relief was not complete until 4:30 am on the 27th. C. Company had 1 killed and 6 wounded whilst going up to relieve.”
The 7th Battalion KOYLI had been based in the Ypres salient having rotated with units destined for the Somme. Harry had been with them only a short time and was desperately unlucky to be killed before his recall could be actioned. He may also have been the Regiments youngest casualty in the First World War.
Born 9th May 1900, Harry was only 16 years & 48 days old when he died, and is the districts youngest casualty recorded on active duty. It should also be noted that Gunner Harold Marsh of the Royal Field Artillery also died aged 16, at home in 1915 from illness, and is buried in Pudsey cemetery.
Harry’s brother, Abraham Ellis died on July 31st 1918, he was Angelina Wharton’s son from her first marriage. Angelina was widowed and remarried to Harry Wharton Senior. The family had lived in Farsley for many years before moving up the hill to Stanningley after 1911, they had 4 surviving children.
Harry Wharton and Abraham Ellis are Remembered on Pudsey Cenotaph, Farsley War Memorial and the Springfield Mill Memorial.
Harry is buried in White House Cemetery in Ypres and Abraham in Senlis French National Cemetery.
If you know anyone connected to the Wharton or Ellis family please ask them to get in touch.
Harry was last visited in July 2014, and will be again next week by the Pudsey to Pals 16 trip. The message left with the wreath on his grave reads
“Harry you can come home with us now lad”.
“News was received on Tuesday evening by Mr and Mrs Harry Wharton of 5 West Street, Richardshaw Lane, that their son Private Harry Wharton, had been killed in action “Somewhere in France,“ on June 26th. (This infact occurred on the St. Julian Road just outside Ypres in Belgium, he was with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry).
Private Wharton who was sixteen years of age on the 9th of May enlisted in February of this year and had been in France 7 weeks. Before joining the colours he was a member of the Springfield Mills company of Scouts. He comes of a soldier family. A brother of his Private Abraham Ellis has been serving in France for 17 months with the Scottish Borderers and his father has served twelve years in the Royal Field Artillery, serving for a long period of time in India. The news came as a great shock as his parents had been under the impression that he was to be sent back to England until he reached the age of 19 years. Mrs Wharton was so prostrated with the news that she had to take to her bed.”
The Regimental Diary of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 7th Bn. for 26th June 1916 reads: ”A wet day… The Battalion relieved the 10th Rifle Brigade in the trenches. Owing to hostile shell fire of roads the relief was not complete until 4:30 am on the 27th. C. Company had 1 killed and 6 wounded whilst going up to relieve.”
The 7th Battalion KOYLI had been based in the Ypres salient having rotated with units destined for the Somme. Harry had been with them only a short time and was desperately unlucky to be killed before his recall could be actioned. He may also have been the Regiments youngest casualty in the First World War.
Born 9th May 1900, Harry was only 16 years & 48 days old when he died, and is the districts youngest casualty recorded on active duty. It should also be noted that Gunner Harold Marsh of the Royal Field Artillery also died aged 16, at home in 1915 from illness, and is buried in Pudsey cemetery.
Harry’s brother, Abraham Ellis died on July 31st 1918, he was Angelina Wharton’s son from her first marriage. Angelina was widowed and remarried to Harry Wharton Senior. The family had lived in Farsley for many years before moving up the hill to Stanningley after 1911, they had 4 surviving children.
Harry Wharton and Abraham Ellis are Remembered on Pudsey Cenotaph, Farsley War Memorial and the Springfield Mill Memorial.
Harry is buried in White House Cemetery in Ypres and Abraham in Senlis French National Cemetery.
If you know anyone connected to the Wharton or Ellis family please ask them to get in touch.
Harry was last visited in July 2014, and will be again next week by the Pudsey to Pals 16 trip. The message left with the wreath on his grave reads
“Harry you can come home with us now lad”.
Ernest and Joseph Blackburn Ramsden, a tragic story of family loss.
Ernest was the first soldier from Pudsey to be killed on the Western Front. He was with the 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment and died on the 18th October 1914, he was only 19. Because his death occurred so early in the war it is likely that he was a full time soldier rather than a volunteer. His parents Joseph and Betsy lived at 114 Fartown, Joseph had his own grocers shop.
After the death of his son, Joseph couldn’t settle and possessed a keen desire to offer himself to the nation. Despite being 48 he enlisted giving his age as 39 (otherwise he would have seen service in the Home Defence). After 4 months training was sent to France with the 8th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. Whilst searching for his son’s body on the battlefield, he received serious shrapnel injuries to his head on March 9th 1916. He later passed away at number 10 Casualty Clearing station, BEF France. He was 49 when he died and is the oldest person from our district to be killed in active service.
Both men were members of the Pudsey United Reform Church congregation, their names are commemorated on the Church’s own memorial. Ernest is remembered on the Ploegsteert Memorial and Joseph is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.
Joseph’s headstone at Lijssenthoek, pictured here with researcher Damon Sugden.
After the death of his son, Joseph couldn’t settle and possessed a keen desire to offer himself to the nation. Despite being 48 he enlisted giving his age as 39 (otherwise he would have seen service in the Home Defence). After 4 months training was sent to France with the 8th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. Whilst searching for his son’s body on the battlefield, he received serious shrapnel injuries to his head on March 9th 1916. He later passed away at number 10 Casualty Clearing station, BEF France. He was 49 when he died and is the oldest person from our district to be killed in active service.
Both men were members of the Pudsey United Reform Church congregation, their names are commemorated on the Church’s own memorial. Ernest is remembered on the Ploegsteert Memorial and Joseph is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.
Joseph’s headstone at Lijssenthoek, pictured here with researcher Damon Sugden.
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Private Joe Forrest Skirrow 18/1185 18th Battalion WYR. 2nd Bradford Pals
23 year old Private Joe Forrest Skirrow volunteered for the 18th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince Of Wales's Own, 2nd Bradford Pals).
Like so many of his comrades he died during the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st 1916. His parents were Tom Skirrow (1865-1904) and Ada Florence Skirrow (nee Pickard) (1866-1958). They were married in 1888 and had three children: Elsie Pickard Skirrow (b1889, m.1918 to James Nettleton), Ann Wormald Skirrow (b.1891) and Joe Forrest Skirrow (1893-1916). All three children were born in Yeadon. The family were living at 3 Priestley Mill Yard, Pudsey in 1911. Tom in 1901 was a Woollen Scribbling Overlooker and Joe himself in 1911 was a Leather Currier at a tannery. Tom's parents were William and Susannah Skirrow and came from Rawdon. He is remembered with honour at the Thiepval Memorial and Pudsey Cenotaph. With thanks to Mr & Mrs David Whithorn. |
Private Wilson Watson 17725, 1st Batt. York and Lancaster Regiment.
Wilson lived at 7 Peel Place, Stanningley Town Street (now demolished but opposite the Jug and Barrel pub) with his wife Ann and their six children. They were members of the congregation at St Thomas Stanningley where both the parents and children were baptised.
Late October/early November 1914, aged 27, Wilson decided to take the Kings Shilling and join Kitcheners new army being recruited. The regular army units in Belgium by this point had taken a terrible beating and the situation was desperate, many young men committed themselves to the army late in 1914. He was initially drafted into the 3rd Battalion West Yorks Regiment, but got transferred into the 1st Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, a regular army unit and destined for the front lines. The 1st York and Lancs landed at Le Havre on the 17th January 1915 and became part of the 28th Division, 83rd Brigade and moved into the front lines around the Ypres salient in Belgium.
Wilson lost his life during the second battle of Ypres which started on the 21st of April. This was the first time that the Germans used Gas which badly affected the French and Canadian troops downwind causing them to fall back. The York and Lancasters were ordered in to fill the gap and seem to have met the enemy in a bayonet charge. Sadly this was a terrible and desperate battle he was involved in and like many others his body was lost on the field. His name appears on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium dedicated to the 54900 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown.
Image from the Pudsey and Stanningley News kindly supplied by Pudsey Civic Society.
Wilson lived at 7 Peel Place, Stanningley Town Street (now demolished but opposite the Jug and Barrel pub) with his wife Ann and their six children. They were members of the congregation at St Thomas Stanningley where both the parents and children were baptised.
Late October/early November 1914, aged 27, Wilson decided to take the Kings Shilling and join Kitcheners new army being recruited. The regular army units in Belgium by this point had taken a terrible beating and the situation was desperate, many young men committed themselves to the army late in 1914. He was initially drafted into the 3rd Battalion West Yorks Regiment, but got transferred into the 1st Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, a regular army unit and destined for the front lines. The 1st York and Lancs landed at Le Havre on the 17th January 1915 and became part of the 28th Division, 83rd Brigade and moved into the front lines around the Ypres salient in Belgium.
Wilson lost his life during the second battle of Ypres which started on the 21st of April. This was the first time that the Germans used Gas which badly affected the French and Canadian troops downwind causing them to fall back. The York and Lancasters were ordered in to fill the gap and seem to have met the enemy in a bayonet charge. Sadly this was a terrible and desperate battle he was involved in and like many others his body was lost on the field. His name appears on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium dedicated to the 54900 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown.
Image from the Pudsey and Stanningley News kindly supplied by Pudsey Civic Society.
Aircraftwoman 1st Class Dorothy Whiteley
The only woman from Pudsey who died in service during the Second World War. Aged 22 she lived at 20 Garfield Place, Swinnow Road. Dorothy was a member of 199 Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath, part of Bomber Command. Dorothy died in hospital on January 4th 1944, she is buried in Pudsey Cemetery.
If you have any further information about Dorothy, please contact us using the mail icon at the top of this page.
The only woman from Pudsey who died in service during the Second World War. Aged 22 she lived at 20 Garfield Place, Swinnow Road. Dorothy was a member of 199 Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath, part of Bomber Command. Dorothy died in hospital on January 4th 1944, she is buried in Pudsey Cemetery.
If you have any further information about Dorothy, please contact us using the mail icon at the top of this page.
FT/SGT. Ronald Charles Andrew Muir RAF (643697)
Lived at 16 Prospect Avenue, Pudsey
Buried: Pudsey Cemetery in a Commonwealth Wargraves Commission plot with Portland Headstone.
Born: 24th July 1921 in Troqueer Parish, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland
Died: 28th July 1941 in an aircraft accident near Stoke Albany, Northamptonshire
Commemorated on: Pudsey Cenotaph WWII plaque, Stoke Albany AN534 memorial and Dumfries War Memorial.
ANYONE WITH A CONNECTION TO RONALD please contact pudseywwoneinfo@yahoo.co.uk
Ronald Charles Andrew Muir was born in Dumfries Infirmary on 24 July 1921. His father John Maxwell Muir was a Coach-painter and had married Lena Winifred Dudson on 7 February 1921 in Dumfries. Lena (adopted into the Armstrong family with her siblings) had been born in Carlisle in 1901. She died in Dumfries in 1933, aged just 31, so Ronald would have been about 12 years old when his mother died. John re-married in 1949 in Dumfries. Ronald’s Sister Irene married Malcom Spurr from Batley.
Some time in 1937/38 Ronald and Irene moved to Pudsey to live with his maternal grandmother Barbara Armstrong. Barbara hailed from Cumbria but had lived in Leeds as a child and was much travelled in the North as her family worked for the Railways. They lived at 16 Prospect Avenue, off Cemetery Road, not far from Ronald’s eventual place of burial.
Ronald first worked at the busy Appleyards garage which is on the Sheepscar junction in Leeds (a decent tram ride away). Ronald and Irene were keen cyclists and members of a local cycling club. They enjoyed many long rides out in the Yorkshire countryside.
He left his job in 1939 to join the RAF for 6 years worth of service. He was eventually posted to Number 90 Squadron based at RAF Polebrook. 90 Sqdn was a top secret high altitude testing unit and all its aircrew were selected for a high level of physical fitness.
The squadron had just taken delivery of the Boeing Flying Fortress Mark 1 bombers supplied on a Lend-Lease arrangement from the Americans and the crew included 1st Lieutenant Laird W. Hendricks of the United States Army Air Corps This was some months before the USA entered the war. Ronald’s aircraft, WP-E “Easy” AN534 was the first of these planes to be delivered via a trans - Atlantic flight.
The aircraft were hastily pushed into service despite a number of operational problems that the Americans were as keen to iron out as the RAF.
Each aircraft was crewed with six RAF men and a USAAC “Advisor”. A sensitive issue at the time as America was still a neutral country.
They flew several training sorties and operational bombing raids over German held Europe. The most famous mission was a daring daylight raid flown at 30,000 feet to bomb the German Battleship Gneisenau, berthed at Brest. The crews needed to wear specialised heated flight suits and breathe oxygen to survive in an unpressurised cabin. The B-17’s were expected to and succeeded in drawing away enemy fighters from a larger wing of Hampdens and Wellingtons flying in at a lower altitude.
Ronald died on 28th July 1941 when his aircraft crashed near Kettering in Northamptonshire during a training mission, all on board died in the accident. He is buried in Pudsey Cemetery, and is named on our Cenotaph.
The American Pilot, Laird Woodruff Hendricks eventually had the main B-17 training airfield in Florida named in his memory - the airfield is now better known as the Sebring raceway in Florida.
The crew are commemorated at Stoke Albany Church
WP-E “Easy” AN534 which crashed vertically at high speed into a field just outside the village, killing all seven men on board.
Flt. Sgt. Reginald G Bradley RAFVR aged 28:
Flt. Sgt. Hubert CG Brook RAFVR aged 25:
Sgt. Robert Henderson RAFVR aged 23:
1st Lt. Laird W Hendricks USAAC aged 25 (Laird was only in the UK for 3 days before his death):
Flt. Sgt. Ronald CA Muir RAF aged 20:
Sgt. Philip S Pugh RAFVR aged 23:
Sgt. Roy Smith RAFVR aged 28:
These are the recollections of Jeanette Jones who is Ronnie’s niece:
“I remember my mother telling me that he once got stranded, with other scouts, up a mountain near Dumfries when he was younger and they were there all night until they could get down the next day. She always used to tell me about how they used to play in the river Nith which was near their home in Dumfries.
Ronnie and my mother were keen cyclist and were members of a cycling club and they used to cycle all over Yorkshire.
They were very close and looked after each other after the tragic circumstances surrounding their mothers death which they never got over.
When the plane's wing exploded Ronnie didn't want to burn to death so he jumped out of the plane but it was too low for his parachute to open.
This is the only photo I have got of Ronnie, he was recovering from an eye infection, that is why his eyes look a little swollen.”
Lived at 16 Prospect Avenue, Pudsey
Buried: Pudsey Cemetery in a Commonwealth Wargraves Commission plot with Portland Headstone.
Born: 24th July 1921 in Troqueer Parish, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland
Died: 28th July 1941 in an aircraft accident near Stoke Albany, Northamptonshire
Commemorated on: Pudsey Cenotaph WWII plaque, Stoke Albany AN534 memorial and Dumfries War Memorial.
ANYONE WITH A CONNECTION TO RONALD please contact pudseywwoneinfo@yahoo.co.uk
Ronald Charles Andrew Muir was born in Dumfries Infirmary on 24 July 1921. His father John Maxwell Muir was a Coach-painter and had married Lena Winifred Dudson on 7 February 1921 in Dumfries. Lena (adopted into the Armstrong family with her siblings) had been born in Carlisle in 1901. She died in Dumfries in 1933, aged just 31, so Ronald would have been about 12 years old when his mother died. John re-married in 1949 in Dumfries. Ronald’s Sister Irene married Malcom Spurr from Batley.
Some time in 1937/38 Ronald and Irene moved to Pudsey to live with his maternal grandmother Barbara Armstrong. Barbara hailed from Cumbria but had lived in Leeds as a child and was much travelled in the North as her family worked for the Railways. They lived at 16 Prospect Avenue, off Cemetery Road, not far from Ronald’s eventual place of burial.
Ronald first worked at the busy Appleyards garage which is on the Sheepscar junction in Leeds (a decent tram ride away). Ronald and Irene were keen cyclists and members of a local cycling club. They enjoyed many long rides out in the Yorkshire countryside.
He left his job in 1939 to join the RAF for 6 years worth of service. He was eventually posted to Number 90 Squadron based at RAF Polebrook. 90 Sqdn was a top secret high altitude testing unit and all its aircrew were selected for a high level of physical fitness.
The squadron had just taken delivery of the Boeing Flying Fortress Mark 1 bombers supplied on a Lend-Lease arrangement from the Americans and the crew included 1st Lieutenant Laird W. Hendricks of the United States Army Air Corps This was some months before the USA entered the war. Ronald’s aircraft, WP-E “Easy” AN534 was the first of these planes to be delivered via a trans - Atlantic flight.
The aircraft were hastily pushed into service despite a number of operational problems that the Americans were as keen to iron out as the RAF.
Each aircraft was crewed with six RAF men and a USAAC “Advisor”. A sensitive issue at the time as America was still a neutral country.
They flew several training sorties and operational bombing raids over German held Europe. The most famous mission was a daring daylight raid flown at 30,000 feet to bomb the German Battleship Gneisenau, berthed at Brest. The crews needed to wear specialised heated flight suits and breathe oxygen to survive in an unpressurised cabin. The B-17’s were expected to and succeeded in drawing away enemy fighters from a larger wing of Hampdens and Wellingtons flying in at a lower altitude.
Ronald died on 28th July 1941 when his aircraft crashed near Kettering in Northamptonshire during a training mission, all on board died in the accident. He is buried in Pudsey Cemetery, and is named on our Cenotaph.
The American Pilot, Laird Woodruff Hendricks eventually had the main B-17 training airfield in Florida named in his memory - the airfield is now better known as the Sebring raceway in Florida.
The crew are commemorated at Stoke Albany Church
WP-E “Easy” AN534 which crashed vertically at high speed into a field just outside the village, killing all seven men on board.
Flt. Sgt. Reginald G Bradley RAFVR aged 28:
Flt. Sgt. Hubert CG Brook RAFVR aged 25:
Sgt. Robert Henderson RAFVR aged 23:
1st Lt. Laird W Hendricks USAAC aged 25 (Laird was only in the UK for 3 days before his death):
Flt. Sgt. Ronald CA Muir RAF aged 20:
Sgt. Philip S Pugh RAFVR aged 23:
Sgt. Roy Smith RAFVR aged 28:
These are the recollections of Jeanette Jones who is Ronnie’s niece:
“I remember my mother telling me that he once got stranded, with other scouts, up a mountain near Dumfries when he was younger and they were there all night until they could get down the next day. She always used to tell me about how they used to play in the river Nith which was near their home in Dumfries.
Ronnie and my mother were keen cyclist and were members of a cycling club and they used to cycle all over Yorkshire.
They were very close and looked after each other after the tragic circumstances surrounding their mothers death which they never got over.
When the plane's wing exploded Ronnie didn't want to burn to death so he jumped out of the plane but it was too low for his parachute to open.
This is the only photo I have got of Ronnie, he was recovering from an eye infection, that is why his eyes look a little swollen.”
Gunner Arthur Edward Murgatroyd 6520 17/18, Royal Marine Artillery
Arthur Edward Murgatroyd was born 3 Dec 1888, Son of Myers (a local Quarry Owner) and Mary at 2 Smalewell Road. Arthur married Jane Nichols of 24 South Parade Pudsey, on 11 Dec 1912. He worked as a delver in fathers Quarry. Arthur had been serving as a Gunner with the Royal Marine Artillery and it is possible he was recruited to give merchant shipping some additional firepower to counter the U-boat menace. He eventually served aboard the steamship S.S. War Song. Built by Detroit Shipbuilding Co., Wyandotte launched July 27, 1917 as LAKE ARTHUR, it was handed over to British Shipping Control as the WAR SONG (WAR series of ships built to compensate for the losses of war). A British steamer of 2535 tons, it was entrusted to the management of W. France, Fenwick & Co, London to serve as a transport for raw materials. On January 15th, 1918, War Song, on a voyage from Bilbao to Brest with a cargo of iron ore, was sunk by shellfire from the German submarine U-93 (Helmut Gerlach), 12 miles west of L'isle-de-Sein near Brest. 16 persons were lost, six members of the crew; Charles Audigier Lombard Sailor. Brown Mr T. Steward. Goulding William Patrick, Second Officer. Hollingsworth J Second Engineer. Murgatroyd A. E. Gunner. James Ramsay Rankine Master, are buried together in L'isle-de-Sein Communal Cemetery, France. He was 29 and is also commemorated at Fartown Christian Fellowship and Pudsey St.Lawrence Church.
Arthur Edward Murgatroyd was born 3 Dec 1888, Son of Myers (a local Quarry Owner) and Mary at 2 Smalewell Road. Arthur married Jane Nichols of 24 South Parade Pudsey, on 11 Dec 1912. He worked as a delver in fathers Quarry. Arthur had been serving as a Gunner with the Royal Marine Artillery and it is possible he was recruited to give merchant shipping some additional firepower to counter the U-boat menace. He eventually served aboard the steamship S.S. War Song. Built by Detroit Shipbuilding Co., Wyandotte launched July 27, 1917 as LAKE ARTHUR, it was handed over to British Shipping Control as the WAR SONG (WAR series of ships built to compensate for the losses of war). A British steamer of 2535 tons, it was entrusted to the management of W. France, Fenwick & Co, London to serve as a transport for raw materials. On January 15th, 1918, War Song, on a voyage from Bilbao to Brest with a cargo of iron ore, was sunk by shellfire from the German submarine U-93 (Helmut Gerlach), 12 miles west of L'isle-de-Sein near Brest. 16 persons were lost, six members of the crew; Charles Audigier Lombard Sailor. Brown Mr T. Steward. Goulding William Patrick, Second Officer. Hollingsworth J Second Engineer. Murgatroyd A. E. Gunner. James Ramsay Rankine Master, are buried together in L'isle-de-Sein Communal Cemetery, France. He was 29 and is also commemorated at Fartown Christian Fellowship and Pudsey St.Lawrence Church.
Stoker 1st Class John William (Willie) Milner. Born est. 1898, died 31/05/1916.
Son of John And Elizabeth Milner, of 2, Veritys Place, Lane End, Pudsey. The eldest son of seven siblings he worked in one of the woollen mills on Valley Road (either Valley Mill or Union). He volunteered to join the Navy and served aboard H.M.S. Black Prince.
HMS Black Prince was a Duke of Edinburgh-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1904. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. After the German ships reached Ottoman waters, the ship was sent to the Red Sea in mid-August to protect troop convoys arriving from India and to search for German merchant ships. After capturing two ships, Black Prince was transferred to the Grand Fleet in December 1914 as part of the First Cruiser Squadron. The ship participated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was sunk with loss of all hands. During the battle, the First Cruiser Squadron was deployed as part of a screening force several miles ahead of the main force of the Grand Fleet, but Black Prince lost contact with the rest of the Squadron as it came into contact with German forces, at about 17:42. Soon after, two other members of the First Cruiser Squadron, HMS Defence and HMS Warrior were heavily engaged by German battleships and battlecruisers, with Defence blowing up and Warrior receiving heavy damage, which later caused her to sink.
There were no positive sightings of Black Prince by the British fleet after that. Recent historians however, hold to the German account of the ship's sinking. Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship Rheinland at about 23:35 GMT, scoring two hits with 6-inch shells. Separated from the rest of the British fleet, the Black Prince approached the German lines at approximately midnight. She turned away from the German battleships, but it was too late. The German battleship Thüringen fixed the Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from Black Prince being ineffective. Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1500 yards of the Black Prince — effectively point blank range for contemporary naval gunnery. Black Prince was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones, sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors from Black Prince's crew, all 857 being killed.
The wrecksite is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
John William Milner is also remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Son of John And Elizabeth Milner, of 2, Veritys Place, Lane End, Pudsey. The eldest son of seven siblings he worked in one of the woollen mills on Valley Road (either Valley Mill or Union). He volunteered to join the Navy and served aboard H.M.S. Black Prince.
HMS Black Prince was a Duke of Edinburgh-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1904. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. After the German ships reached Ottoman waters, the ship was sent to the Red Sea in mid-August to protect troop convoys arriving from India and to search for German merchant ships. After capturing two ships, Black Prince was transferred to the Grand Fleet in December 1914 as part of the First Cruiser Squadron. The ship participated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was sunk with loss of all hands. During the battle, the First Cruiser Squadron was deployed as part of a screening force several miles ahead of the main force of the Grand Fleet, but Black Prince lost contact with the rest of the Squadron as it came into contact with German forces, at about 17:42. Soon after, two other members of the First Cruiser Squadron, HMS Defence and HMS Warrior were heavily engaged by German battleships and battlecruisers, with Defence blowing up and Warrior receiving heavy damage, which later caused her to sink.
There were no positive sightings of Black Prince by the British fleet after that. Recent historians however, hold to the German account of the ship's sinking. Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship Rheinland at about 23:35 GMT, scoring two hits with 6-inch shells. Separated from the rest of the British fleet, the Black Prince approached the German lines at approximately midnight. She turned away from the German battleships, but it was too late. The German battleship Thüringen fixed the Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from Black Prince being ineffective. Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1500 yards of the Black Prince — effectively point blank range for contemporary naval gunnery. Black Prince was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones, sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors from Black Prince's crew, all 857 being killed.
The wrecksite is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
John William Milner is also remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Private William Gambles, West Yorkshire Regiment 17/1446. Died 24 March 1918 Arras age 33.
William was the Son of Samuel Gambles and Hannah Mary Procter. He was born on the 3rd September 1885 at Littlemoor Pudsey, baptised on 10th October 1885 at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel Littlemoor. He married Edith Payne on the 22 December 1906 at St Wilfred's Calverley. He worked at Boyes and Helliwell Mill Pudsey as a Cloth Finisher. William joined the 2nd Leeds Pals (17th WYR Regiment “Bantams”) as a volunteer during 1915, as can be deduced from his service number being 1446. The 17th Service Battalion was formed on the 17th December 1914 and began training from January 1915 at Ilkley, then moving to Skipton in May before being taken over by the War Office in June. Then on to the vacated Leeds Pals Colsterdale training camp. They entrained to Southampton 31 January 1916 then left for France and landed on the 1st February 1916 at Le Havre, being the first Service Battalion from Leeds to be in France. William qualified as a signaller for his Company. During the German Spring Offensive of 1918, both Leeds Battalions were forced into a fighting retreat from the town of Arras, suffering heavy losses. William is believed KIA around the St Leger area, Arras, Pas de Calais. At the time of his death his wife was living at 12 Croft Place Lowtown Pudsey with their 3 year old son Herbert. William is commemorated on the Arras Memorial along side 31 other men from Pudsey and Farsley that fell and were lost in the area.
Information supplied with thanks by Jennie Lawton and Ellen Blenkinsop.
William was the Son of Samuel Gambles and Hannah Mary Procter. He was born on the 3rd September 1885 at Littlemoor Pudsey, baptised on 10th October 1885 at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel Littlemoor. He married Edith Payne on the 22 December 1906 at St Wilfred's Calverley. He worked at Boyes and Helliwell Mill Pudsey as a Cloth Finisher. William joined the 2nd Leeds Pals (17th WYR Regiment “Bantams”) as a volunteer during 1915, as can be deduced from his service number being 1446. The 17th Service Battalion was formed on the 17th December 1914 and began training from January 1915 at Ilkley, then moving to Skipton in May before being taken over by the War Office in June. Then on to the vacated Leeds Pals Colsterdale training camp. They entrained to Southampton 31 January 1916 then left for France and landed on the 1st February 1916 at Le Havre, being the first Service Battalion from Leeds to be in France. William qualified as a signaller for his Company. During the German Spring Offensive of 1918, both Leeds Battalions were forced into a fighting retreat from the town of Arras, suffering heavy losses. William is believed KIA around the St Leger area, Arras, Pas de Calais. At the time of his death his wife was living at 12 Croft Place Lowtown Pudsey with their 3 year old son Herbert. William is commemorated on the Arras Memorial along side 31 other men from Pudsey and Farsley that fell and were lost in the area.
Information supplied with thanks by Jennie Lawton and Ellen Blenkinsop.
Lance Corporal Frank Peace 4699528, 2/4th Bn., Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Died Tuesday 30th March 1943 age 26 in Tunisia.
Frank Peace was born on 1st June 1916 son of Joseph Arthur Peace and Mary Nappy. Frank married Edna Fox in 1940 at Four Square Gospel Church Bradford, they hadnt started a family together before he died. He was a keen gardener and enjoyed Topiary. Frank was killed after stepping on a land mine.
The following appeared in the Pudsey News 1943
Pudsey Man Killed in action in North Africa
L/CPL Frank Peace K.O.Y.L.I aged 26 son of Mr J A and the Late Mrs Peace of Hammerton Grove Pudsey is reported Killed in North Africa L/CPL Peace is married and his wife lives at Wordsworth Street, Bradford. He joined the forces just over 12 months ago and has been overseas about 4 months. Before joining the forces he was employed as a warp twister at Messrs Cordingleys Priestley Mills Pudsey, but as apprentice at Messrs Jowetts. He was a member of the Littlemoor Baptist Institute and also identified himself with the Four Square Gospel Church Bradford. He was educated at Littlemoor Council School.
Franks name is remembered on Pudsey Cenotaph, Bradford Cenotaph and Four Square Church Bradford.
Information and photo supplied with thanks by Ellen Blenkinsop.
Frank Peace was born on 1st June 1916 son of Joseph Arthur Peace and Mary Nappy. Frank married Edna Fox in 1940 at Four Square Gospel Church Bradford, they hadnt started a family together before he died. He was a keen gardener and enjoyed Topiary. Frank was killed after stepping on a land mine.
The following appeared in the Pudsey News 1943
Pudsey Man Killed in action in North Africa
L/CPL Frank Peace K.O.Y.L.I aged 26 son of Mr J A and the Late Mrs Peace of Hammerton Grove Pudsey is reported Killed in North Africa L/CPL Peace is married and his wife lives at Wordsworth Street, Bradford. He joined the forces just over 12 months ago and has been overseas about 4 months. Before joining the forces he was employed as a warp twister at Messrs Cordingleys Priestley Mills Pudsey, but as apprentice at Messrs Jowetts. He was a member of the Littlemoor Baptist Institute and also identified himself with the Four Square Gospel Church Bradford. He was educated at Littlemoor Council School.
Franks name is remembered on Pudsey Cenotaph, Bradford Cenotaph and Four Square Church Bradford.
Information and photo supplied with thanks by Ellen Blenkinsop.
Able Seaman (Bertram) Alfred Loakes, (RFR/PO/B/3610). H.M.S. "Good Hope." Son of Harry and Francis of 28 Somerset Road, Pudsey. Bertram Alfred Loakes hailed from Northampton where his father had been a specialist shoe maker. The family later moved to Pudsey to seek work in the boot and shoe factories of Messrs. Scales and Sons, and Messrs. Salter and Salter. Bertram Alfred like his father became a professional cobbler before joining the Navy. (On the Cenotaph his family have dropped the ‘Bertram‘ and he is named simply as Alfred Loakes).
Killed-in-Action Sunday 1st November 1914 aged 26. HMS Good Hope, the battle of Coronel. This was the first ship lost in a surface fleet action by the Royal Navy since The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
HMS Good Hope was a Drake Class Armoured Cruiser which were at the time among the fastest ships in the world. They were good steamers and very economical in service. She became the flagship of Rear Admiral Craddock (Flag Captain was P Francklin RN) of the South American station during August 1914. She was sunk by gunfire on 1st November 1914 by the German armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau off the Chilean Coast during the battle of Coronel. The position of the sinking is 36* 59' 1" S 73* 48' 49" W. off the South American Coast at VALPARISO, CHILE, and the time was 19:50 when the main magazine exploded and the 14,000 ton ship went to the bottom. Good Hope went down with HMS Glasgow, a total of 1600 men from both ships being lost at sea.
Killed-in-Action Sunday 1st November 1914 aged 26. HMS Good Hope, the battle of Coronel. This was the first ship lost in a surface fleet action by the Royal Navy since The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
HMS Good Hope was a Drake Class Armoured Cruiser which were at the time among the fastest ships in the world. They were good steamers and very economical in service. She became the flagship of Rear Admiral Craddock (Flag Captain was P Francklin RN) of the South American station during August 1914. She was sunk by gunfire on 1st November 1914 by the German armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau off the Chilean Coast during the battle of Coronel. The position of the sinking is 36* 59' 1" S 73* 48' 49" W. off the South American Coast at VALPARISO, CHILE, and the time was 19:50 when the main magazine exploded and the 14,000 ton ship went to the bottom. Good Hope went down with HMS Glasgow, a total of 1600 men from both ships being lost at sea.
THE LOST PAL - named on Pudsey Cenotaph, but that was all we knew until now.
Reginald Goodall Smith born in Yeadon on February 17th 1890.
His father John Smith, died suddenly some time after 1901 and Reginald and his mother Elizabeth moved to Pudsey. There they lived at Alma House with Reginald’s uncle Herbert Goodall. Herbert and his family were the owners of the large Alma tannery on Roker Lane, Pudsey. Reginald changed career path after 1911 moving from being a life insurance agent to working as a leather currier in the tannery. The family also moved to the smaller Glebeland House on South Parade (pictured).
At the outbreak of war, he was one of the men who signed up for full military service on the Leeds Pals Tram, having already spent 5 years serving as a Territorial with the Leeds Rifles.
From here on details about his life are very sketchy. He initially served with the 15th Battalion Leeds Pals, and also served with the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment.
Sadly having survived the horrors of the war, Reginald succumbed to illness contracted in France on February 13th 1919. The Spanish flu epidemic was rife amongst the thousands of troops returning through the channel ports at the time.
Reginald is remembered on the very eye catching Goodall family memorial in Pudsey Cemetery. I don't know yet if he is buried there, this is to be confirmed.
Reginald Goodall Smith born in Yeadon on February 17th 1890.
His father John Smith, died suddenly some time after 1901 and Reginald and his mother Elizabeth moved to Pudsey. There they lived at Alma House with Reginald’s uncle Herbert Goodall. Herbert and his family were the owners of the large Alma tannery on Roker Lane, Pudsey. Reginald changed career path after 1911 moving from being a life insurance agent to working as a leather currier in the tannery. The family also moved to the smaller Glebeland House on South Parade (pictured).
At the outbreak of war, he was one of the men who signed up for full military service on the Leeds Pals Tram, having already spent 5 years serving as a Territorial with the Leeds Rifles.
From here on details about his life are very sketchy. He initially served with the 15th Battalion Leeds Pals, and also served with the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment.
Sadly having survived the horrors of the war, Reginald succumbed to illness contracted in France on February 13th 1919. The Spanish flu epidemic was rife amongst the thousands of troops returning through the channel ports at the time.
Reginald is remembered on the very eye catching Goodall family memorial in Pudsey Cemetery. I don't know yet if he is buried there, this is to be confirmed.