By NeuvilleLass 3 August , in Soldiers and their units. He was in the 2nd Bn and I have been reading all the war diaries and cross referencing the different Infantry Battalion accounts of the day. The Yorks were split into 4 supporting coys to the other Infantry Brigades at Agny. The locations in the war diaries are understandably vague at times, "In the Field" being the most frequent phrase. The first led by Captain G. The second was led by Captain W H Colley recently returned to the battalion on completing his officers course and comprised of other ranks to support the 2nd Wilts as moppers up.
A third coy led by 2nd Lieutenant E J Rapp had 40 men of other ranks who were tasked to support the 21st Stokes Mortar Battery as carriers. The 4th coy was a group of 21 other ranks to act as escorts to the 21st Machine Gun Company. The war diary records the deaths of 23 other ranks that day and 2 missing. Interestingly this is at odds with a search of Geoff's search engine which turns up 30 names from the 2nd Bn which as Ken has so kindly explained is not unusual.
There are to my knowledge no further details available to work out the individuals in each of the 4 companies so as I might be able to pinpoint where it is likely George fell. George was 33 years old and single when he died. He was a carter for the local mills in civil life and had 15 convictions for being found asleep in his cart in various places with the horse untethered. There is never any mention of him being under the influence of drink for these offences, so it is likely he was not fit to fight, as my Great Great Grandfather, his brother, Samuel died aged 38 of diabetes not long after returning from the war as a Remount.
George attested under the Derby scheme in in Todmorden, our home town, joining the Green Howards likely in spring of that year and being wounded on 9th November This part of the story I am yet to explore in depth but know it was from a shell that hit a village they were in at the time?
If anyone else is interested in this particular regiment and period of the Great War, I would love to share information no matter how small. I ll add some more photos and research as I go along. Just by focusing in on the men who died from the 2nd Battalion that day there are so many mysteries and stories to explore to try to understand what happened to George.
