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- The Yorkshire Regiment, First World War Private Robert William Wilson Close window to return to War Memorial / Grave page |
The following details regarding Private Robert William Wilson of the 6th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment have been put together by Kevin Richardson <kevinrichardson205@btinternet.com>, to whom we are extremely grateful.
Private ROBERT WILLIAM WILSON 1896-1916
Private Robert Wilson, aged 20 was the first military funeral to be held in Evenwood. He died in the Military Hospital in Hampstead following wounds received in France.
Family Details:
1901 Census - Robert Wilson aged 4, born 1896 in Evenwood (1) Son of Mr. Moses Wilson, Ingleton, late of Evenwood. (2)
Military Details:
William Gray of Evenwood Gate, the Hon. Secretary of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Fund provided Rev. G. J. Collis, vicar of St. Paul’s Church, Evenwood with a complete classified list of those who had enlisted in His Majesty’s Forces. The list was published in the Church Magazine of April 1915. There is no entry for Robert Wilson however the earlier edition of February 1915 contained the following entry:
Randolph man from Toft Hill – R. W. Wilson (3)
It is therefore assumed that this is Robert William Wilson, formerly of Evenwood, a miner at Randolph and at the time was living at Toft Hill.
The following details are provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Rank: Private
Regiment: Yorkshire Regiment
Unit: 6th Battalion
Service No.: 16202
Date of Death: 03/10/1916 (4)
The 6th (Service) Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra, Princess
of Wales’s Own) was formed at Richmond, 25th August 1914 as part of Kitchener’s
New Army – K1. It was attached to 32nd Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division.
The Regiment is popularly known as “the Green Howards.” (5)
Other battalions in the 32nd Brigade were:
· 9th (Service) Battalion the West Yorkshires, joined August 1914
· 6th (Service) Battalion the East Yorkshires, joined August 1914 left
December 1914
· 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, joined May 1918
· 6th (Service) Battalion, the York & Lancaster Regiment, joined
August 1914
· 32nd Brigade Machine Gun Company, (formed March 1916)
· 32nd Trench Mortar Battery, joined July 1916.
The Division was formed of volunteers, the recruits were judged to be ready
by late spring 1915 and it was ordered to reinforce the beleagured garrison
on Gallipoli. It sailed from Liverpool on the 1st July 1915, landing at Alexandria
then onto Mundros then landing at Sulva Bay, Gallipoli on the 7th August 1915.
The Division withdrew from Gallipoli on the 21st December 1915 sailing to Egypt
then onto Marseilles, France by July 1916. It spent the remainder of the war
on the Western Front. (6)
The service details of Private R. W. Wilson and the date he enlisted have not been researched therefore it is not known whether he served in Gallipoli or whether he was a later draftee.
The Battle of the Somme 1st July – 18th November 1916
The Battle of the Somme was viewed as a breakthrough battle, as a means of
getting through the formidable German trench lines and into a war of movement
and decision. Political considerations and the demands of the French High Command
influenced the timing of the battle. They demanded British diversionary action
to occupy the German Army to relieve the hard pressed French troops at Verdun,
to the south.
General Sir Douglas Haig, appointed Commander-in-Chief in December 1915, was
responsible for the overall conduct of British Army operations in France and
Belgium. This action was to be the British Army’s first major offensive
on the Western Front in 1916 and it was entrusted to General Rawlinson’s
Fourth Army to deliver the resounding victory. The British Army included thousands
of citizen volunteers, keen to take part in what was expected to be a great
victory.
The main line of assault ran nearly 14 miles from Maricourt in the south to
Serre to the north, with a diversionary attack at Gommecourt 2 miles further
to the north. The first objective was to establish a new advanced line on the
Montauban to Polizieres Ridge.
The first day, 1st June, was preceded by a week long artillery bombardment of
the German positions. Just prior to zero-hour, the storm of British shells increased
and merged with huge mine explosions to herald the infantry attack – at
7.30am on a clear midsummer’s morning the British Infantry emerged from
their trenches and advanced in extended lines at a slow steady pace over the
grassy expanse of a No Man’s Land. They were met with a hail of machine
gun fire and rifle fire from the surviving German defenders. Accurate German
artillery barrages smashed into the infantry in No Man’s Land and the
crowded assembly trenches – the British suffered enormous casualties:
· Officers killed 993
· Other Ranks killed: 18,247
· Total Killed: 19,240
· Total casualties (killed, wounded and missing): 57,470
In popular imagination, the “Battle of the Somme” has become a byword for military disaster. In the calamitous opening 24 hours the British Army suffered its highest number of casualties in a single day. The loss of great numbers of men from the same towns and villages had a profound impact on those at home. The first day was an abject failure and the following weeks and months of conflict assumed the nature of wearing-down warfare, a war of attrition, by the end of which both the attackers and defenders were totally exhausted.
The Battle of the Somme can be broken down into 12 offensive operations:
· Albert: 1 – 13 July
· Bazantin Ridge: 14 – 17 July
· Delville Wood: 15 July – 13 September
· Pozieres Ridge: 15 July – 3 September
· Guillemont: 23 July – 3 September
· Ginchy: 9 September
· Flers-Courcelette: 15 – 22 September
· Morval: 25 – 28 September
· Thiepval: 25 – 28 September
· Le Transloy: 1 – 18 October
· Ancre Heights: 1 October – 11 November
· Ancre: 13 – 18 November
Adverse weather conditions i.e. the autumn rains and early winter sleet and snow turned the battlefield into morass of mud. Such intolerable physical conditions helped to bring to an end Allied offensive operations after four and a half months of slaughter. The fighting brought no significant breakthrough. Territorial gain was a strip of land approximately 20 miles wide by 6 miles deep, at enormous cost. (7) British and Commonwealth forces were calculated to have 419,654 casualties (dead, wounded and missing) of which some 131,000 were dead. French casualties amounted to 204,253. German casualties were estimated between 450,000 to 600,000. (8) In the spring of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences, the Hindenburg Line, and there were no further significant engagements in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted their major offensive in March 1918. (9)
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette – an overview
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette was commenced on the 15th September 1916 and
is notable for the introduction of tanks – this offensive employed 12
Divisions and 49 tanks. They proved notoriously unreliable – only 15 rolled
onto No Man’s Land at the start of the attack. The BEF and Canadian Corps
made initial gains of some 2 kilometres within the first 3 days including the
capture of the ruined villages of Martinpuich, Flers and Courcelette and much
of the sought after High Wood. However a combination of poor weather and extensive
German reinforcements halted the advance and the Allies again suffered high
casualties. The attack was called off on the 22nd September. (10)
Haig renewed attacks in this area between the 25th and 27th September in the
Battle of Morval and the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. Advances were limited but
positions were consolidated. (11)
Peter Hart concluded:
“The pattern of the fighting on the Somme had now been clearly established.
It was fundamentally a battle of artillery. The British could not advance without
it: the Germans could not defend without it. The roar of guns was unceasing.
It could grind away and erode the courage of all but the bravest.” (12)
The 1914-1918 website confirms that the 11th Division was involved in the 6th
phase of the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette and operations
on the Ancre. Peter Hart’s book, “The Somme” indicates that
the 11th Division formed part of the II Corps together with the 18th Division
alongside the Canadian Corps (1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions) and that they
were also involved in offensive action that followed at Thiepval Ridge. (13)
The II Corps occupied positions to the north of the theatre, to the immediate
south of Thiepval. The 32nd and 33rd Brigades were in the vicinity of Nab Valley
on the 15th September 1916. (14)
The 33rd and 34th Brigades were on the front line in the same area by the 26th
September 1916 at the beginning of the Thiepval offensive. (15) It is assumed
that the 32nd Brigade was in the support positions.
A series of vivid accounts are provided by Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Pratt,
9th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, 32nd Brigade, 11th Division. The 6th
Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment served in the same Brigade. These accounts
refer to action in trenches around Stuff Redoubt held by the Germans –
Hessian Trench and Zollern Trench on the 27th September 1916. (16)
Private Robert Wilson died of wounds on the 3rd October 1916 in hospital in Hampstead.
It is therefore assumed that his wounds were received in action sometime between the 15th and 27th September 1916 in the vicinity of Thiepval. To date, the War Diaries of the 6th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment have not been researched and it is not possible to be more accurate in identifying the date when Private R. Wilson received his fatal wounds.
News of his Death
The Auckland Chronicle, 12th October 1916 reported as follows:
“Military Funeral
The first funeral of a military character took place at Evenwood on Saturday
when the remains of Pte. Robert Wilson were laid to rest. His death took place
at Hampstead Hospital from wounds received at one of the battle fronts. He was
a son of Mr. Moses Wilson, Ingleton late of Evenwood and the funeral took place
from the house of his uncle and aunt Mr. and Mrs. William Hodgson, Chapel St.
The cortège was a very large one nearly the whole village turning out
to do honour to the fallen hero. Among other floral tributes was a large wreath
sent by nurses of the hospital. An impressive service was conducted in the Wesleyan
Church by Mr. John Cox who also read the last rites at the graveside.”
(17)
Evenwood Church Magazine reported as follows:
“Burials
In my Father’s house are many mansions. S.John xix,2.
Oct. 7 - *Robert William Wilson aged 20 yrs.
*Died at the Military Hospital, Hampstead, from wounds received in France.” (18)
Evenwood Cemetery
(Photo of R W Wilson's grave on the WW1 Remembrance website)
Memorials that Commemorate Private Robert William Wilson
Evenwood Cenotaph
Monday 20th June 1921:
The memorial to the men of Evenwood, Ramshaw and Lands was unveiled by Col. Dowling. Mr. T. Heslop, former manager of Randolph Colliery and agent to the North Bitchburn Coal Company, was chairman of the organising committee. A vast crowd assembled and the Evenwood Band performed for them. (19)
(Photo on the WW1 Remembrance website)
St. Paul’s Church, Evenwood: Comrades of the Great War
(Photo on the WW1 Remembrance website)
Family Links Today:
Not yet researched.
Miss Olive Gardiner married Mr. Moses Wilson on 22nd February 1925. They had 2 sons Ron (1926 – 2006?) and Gerry (19??-2004?). It would be inconceivable in such a small place like Evenwood for the 2 Moses not to be related. Olive was my wife’s aunt, Moses her uncle and Ron/Gerry were her cousins.
References:
1. 1901 Census – more research
2. Auckland Chronicle 12th October 1916
3. Evenwood Church Magazine February 1915
4. www.cwgc.org?search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=354159
5. www.1914-1918.net/yorks.htm
6. www.1914-1918.net/11div.htm
7. check
8. check
9. check
10. www.firstworldwar.com/battles/flers.htm
11. www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm
12. Peter Hart, “The Somme” p440
13. ditto p416
14. ditto p380
15. ditto p417
16. ditto p430-438
17. The Auckland Chronicle, 12th October 1916
18. Evenwood Church Magazine November 1916
19. Evenwood Church Magazine July 1921