SL038 – Yeadon, 1914 – 1918.
| Title | Aireborough Boys |
| Date | 1914 – 1918 |
| Location | Aireborough/Europe |
| Written By | Carlo Harrison |
| Comment | Taken from two albums made up of newspaper cuttings from that time. With additional information from Ken Roberts. |
1418 – H Roberts.
Private Herbert Roberts
Private Herbt. Roberts
Yeadon
Wounded
Because this man lived through the war (thankfully) it is very difficult to trace him through service records on line.
Here is an entry from the 1911 census.
Herbert Roberts
Age in 1911: 14
Estimated Birth Year: 1897
Relation to Head: Son
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Carlton, Yorkshire, England
Civil Parish: Yeadon
County/Island: Yorkshire-West Riding
Country: England
Street Address: 42 Football Yeadon Yorks
Occupation: Sprigger In Boot Factory
Additional Research
Herbert was the son of Albert and Annie (Proctor) Roberts and was one of three children. He married Annie Hanson in 1919, the same year he left the Army after suffering gunshot wounds which affected his left shoulder, rear and thigh. He had enlisted on 30th August 1915 joining the Seaforth Hussars, Private 201427, but his discharge records in early March show that he had become a corporal. He lived in Football and Moorland Crescent but died in June 1972 when in Marshall Street.
Helen M.
14 May 2023.
1418 – H B Rigg.
Signalman Henry B Rigg
Signaller H.B.Rigg
Yeadon
(Drowned)
RIGG, HENRY SIZELAND
Rank: Signalman
Service No: TynesideZ/10802
Date of Death: 24/11/1917
Age:19
Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
S.S. “Dunrobin.”
Panel Reference: 27.
Memorial: CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of John L. and Anna Rigg, of 12, Ivegate Yeadon, Leeds.
17 Dec 1897
Birth Place: Rawdon, Yorks
Branch of Service: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Cause of Death: Killed or died as a direct result of enemy action
Official Number Port Division: Tyneside Z/10802. (Ch)
Death Date: 24 Nov 1917
Ship or Unit: SS Dunrobin
Location of Grave: Not recorded
Name and Address of Cemetery: Body Not Recovered For Burial
Relatives Notified and Address: Father: 12, Ivegate, Yeadon, Leeds
Additional Research
Henry’s RNVR career began within Victory VI and Vivid III (shore establishments) from 24th August 1916. He was a bank clerk and had worked for the Bradford District Bank in its Head Office foreign department. The SS Dunrobin was an armed merchant ship which was torpedoed by submarine U-53 about 50 miles off the Cornish coast, enroute to the Tyne from Almeria in Spain. Thirty-one lives were lost in the sinking. In addition to his commemoration on the Chatham Memorial, his name was added to his Grandparents’ (Thomas and Sophie Rigg) headstone in St. Peter’s Churchyard, Rawdon.
Helen M.
14 May 2023.
1418 – Denison Family.
Denison Family
These are 5 sons of Mr. Arthur Denison of Harper Terrace, Yeadon.
Left to right:
Private. Sam Denison – Killed
DENISON, SAMUEL
Rank: Private
Service No: 41421
Date of Death: 09/06/1917
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Northumberland Fusiliers
26th (Tyneside Irish) Bn.
Panel Reference: Bay 2 and 3.
Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of Arthur and Mary Ann Denison, of 17, Harper Terrace, Yeadon, Leeds.
THIS MAN HAS NO KNOWN GRAVE.
Lance-Corpl. George Denison – Twice Wounded
Gunner. Stephen Denison – With Salonica Forces
It may not seem to be much, and probably not worth recording, but as I say ‘All History Matters’ and so, into our digital records goes a request from Stephen Denison who we featured earlier titled “The Five Sons of Arthur Denison”
It does strike a bit of a bell doesn’t it, as in 1933 Stephen is asking for his war medals for his service to King and Country in Afghanistan!
Stephen Denison,
Enrolled at Keighley,18/4/1916, Regiment of Artillery, (RH & RFA)
Aged 23 years & 11 months. Employment: Warp twister.
5’5 1/4” tall. Chest expanded 36 ½ “
Religion, C of E.
Next of kin, Arthur Denison, Father, 20 Harper Terrace, Yeadon.
Military History. Mediterranean 1916. North West Frontier, 1919
Letter submitted by Stephen December 30, 1933
Dear Sirs,
AS I was a Gunner in the 101st battery, RFA (Royal Field Artillery) from 1917 to 1919 & took part in the Afghanistan campaign in 1919, can you tell me why I have not received a medal for those services. I think you will find in the record that the battery was in the command of Major C H E Wilson. I am not living at the same address as is stated in the records, but my address for all correspondence is as follows.
I thank you for an early reply.
Mr. Stephen Denison
1 Carlton Terrace, Yeadon.
Letter from RFH Records Office, Woolwich Dockyard dated 5/2/1934.
Dear Sir,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 30/12/1933 & subsequent correspondence relative to the award of the Indian General Service Medal with clasp
“Afghanistan, NWF, 1919” & in reply inform you that your application has been submitted to the War Office for consideration.
If approved the decoration will be forwarded to you direct from that office & no further application will be necessary.
Yours faithfully, WEG Williams, Captain
Further record.
Embarked Devonport 23.9.1916
Disembarked Salonica 5/10/1916
Embarked for India 23/10/1917
Was admitted to hospital with Malaria 11 May 1918, discharged 18/5/1918, given Quinine
And again in Hyderabad with Jaundice, 9/1/1919, discharged 5/2/1919. given a purgative, a milk diet, & rest & recuperation.
Transferred to Army Reserve 16/1/1920, Woolwich.
Other information is unreadable. This notes comes from records known as the Burnt Records. They were badly damaged in the Second War Blitz. Many pages are fire damaged.
Driver. James Denison – In Training
James was a driver. Drivers invariably drove horses pulling field artillery up to the front line. A very dangerous job.
Res. Wardmaster. Fred Denison – On Hospital Ships
Additional Research
James Denison – James enlisted at the age of twenty-six when a horseman and was with the York and Lancaster Regiment, Private 38784. He was called up in November 1916 and served in France joining the British Expeditionary Force. He was later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (83397). James died at the age of seventy-five in 1965.
Fred Denison – A Ward Master undertakes administration duties and patient care in addition to the care given by nursing staff. Fred (M9279) first served in August 1914 aboard the “Asturias” Hospital Ship and the Victory III, in September 1919. Prior to this service he had worked as a stoker and boiler fireman.
Helen M.
14 May 2023.
1418 – Fickling & Family Members.
Fickling, Illingworth, Wharton & Sykes
Fickling, Illingworth, Wharton, & Sykes, Guiseley Brothers, Uncles and Cousins.
Additional Research
Sydney George Fickling, 24th June 1899 – 1970. Baptised at St. Peter’s, Rawdon, but the named “abode” in the ledger was Kilmarnock. Service No: Gunner 60406.
Enlisted on 22nd October 1915 when he stated his age was 19 years 4 months, which doesn’t match the maths. He joined the British Expeditionary Force in January 1918 and was demobilised in January 1919. A year later he married Alice Lockwood in Guiseley Parish Church in the presence of his brother Jack, so Drummer Jack Fickling also survived the War.
John Fickling, 27th April 1898 – 1962. Baptised at St. Peter’s, Rawdon at which time the family lived in Little London, Rawdon. Service No: Drummer 1873 – West Riding Regiment. Private 235893 – Yorks/Lancs Regiment.
Left for France in June 1915 and his service ended in July 1919. He was married in 1920 to Evelyn Watson – at St. Mary’s, Burley-in-Wharfedale and until his death in 1962, lived in Main Street, Burley.
Edwin Abraham Illingworth, 13th January 1878 – 1963. Service No: Driver 3514, 780934 – Royal Field Artillery. He enlisted when in his late thirties, in October 1915, then married Clare Wharton in December of the same year. Edwin left Folkestone for Boulogne in April 1916 and was finally demobilised in March 1919.
Fred Wharton is probably Alfred Charles Wharton, the brother of Lilian Wharton who married George H. Fickling (parents of Sydney George and John). He was born in Rawdon in 1878 and married Eva Verity in 1903. They had two children. Service No’s: Private 50660 West Yorkshire Regiment, 35955 Northumberland Fusiliers, 21st Battalion – which don’t fit in with the rank of Gunner etc., but do fit in with family connections. Should this be the correct soldier, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France having been killed in action on 9th September 1917.
Oscar Frederick Fickling. Oscar was born in Norfolk (2.12.1892) where the ‘Fickling’ family originated. He enlisted in 1914 and left for France in June 1916.
Service No’s: Private 610595 London Regiment, 549145 Labour Corps, rising to Corporal. He served in Salonica and Egypt – where he was wounded. Oscar returned to England and in 1921, married Lucy Stratton. He died in 1960.
Helen M.
27 August 2023
