Below are details of men connected with Clayton who lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Private Benjamin Balme
16/736, "C" Coy. 16th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales's Own) who died on 01 July 1916
on the Somme Age 21
Many tragic deaths occurred on the Somme, but the plight of Ben and his fellow comrades is one that probably dwarfs all others. The service number gives a hint as to Ben's fate, as does the date on which he died, but it is only when we begin to look in greater depth at the casualty listings as a whole that we begin to see the bigger picture.
In late 1914, Lord Kitchener needed to raise a 100,000 strong armyof volunteers to bolster the troops at the front and it was proposed by a leading politician of the time, Lord Derby, that battalions of men (a battalion being approximately 1,000 men) could be raised from specific towns or cities around the country. Thus, Pals Battalions were formed throughout the length and breadth of the land. Although their inception had noble beginnings they ended up in catastrophe, the wake of which would be felt for generations to come. Bradford formed two battalions itself, with a full complement of well over 2,000 men from in or around the city. It was to the first battalion of these that Benjamin belonged; the 16th Battalion (Prince of Wales Own) West Yorkshire Regiment, more commonly known as the 1st Bradford Pals.
Ben left his job as a wool sorter at Messrs. B. Parkinson and Co., wool merchants to join up, and was soon being put through the rigorous military training schedule set by the British army. He was sent to Egypt with the pals for several months before returning to Europe to France, where he arrived in January 1916. The battalion spent the preceding six months building up to Field Marshall Douglas Haig's 'big push' which was supposed to end the war. For the last week of June 1916 British heavy artillery pummeled the German lines around the 100 mile stretch of front near to the Somme River in preparation for this attack, but when it finally came at 7.30am on Saturday 1st July 1916 events worked out very differently.
The Pals battalions who made up the vast bulk of the army around this sector left their trenches and began to walk slowly towards the enemy as instructed, their standing orders being to occupy the now empty German trench system after the week long bombardment. Unfortunately, this was not to be. The German trenches contained deep dugouts that had remained intact and were filled with German soldiers. When the bombardment stopped at just before 7.20am, a several minute long pause was left before the troops advanced, which conveniently gave the German forces just enough time to come up into the balmy sunlight and set up their machine guns on the trench parapets. Up and down the Somme, front men left their trenches as ordered and plunged headlong into a murderous fire of machine gun rounds. Many men never made it over the top as they were struck by bullets that punched them back into their own trench as soon as they reached open ground. Those that did leave the trench were cut down long before they even reached the German wire.
It was on this day, the first of the long awaited Somme Offensive, that Ben fell and C Company of the 1st Bradford Pals went over the top in the second wave of attack at around 7.45am. A veteran of Ben's battalion would later recount that by the end of that day only around 50 men could answer their roll call, the other 700 or so lying dead or wounded in the front line trenches or in no-man's land. Clayton alone lost at least ten men who were serving in the Bradford Pals, nearly a tenth of all its casualties, and this was a similar situation in many of the other parishes and communities around the city.
Benjamin Balme was the son of George Frederick and Annie Balme who resided at 22, Town End, and George Balme was informed as to Ben's fate within a month of his death (Annie Balme had died a couple of years previously). Ben was a keen footballer and played regularly for Clayton Association Football Club; his father was also a well respected businessman who was well known for his work with the local Co-operative Society so his death would have been felt across the community.
Serjeant Henry Bernard Greenwood
18/9, "B" Coy. 18th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales's Own) who died on 30 June 1916
on the Somme Age25
Another of the ill-fated Pals, Henry was one of the Sergeants in the 'B' Company of the 2nd Bradford Pals, and despite press reports of the time had died the night before the major offensive. The probable reasoning behind this is that he was killed whilst on covert operations. He, along with forty one other men, was sent over the top the night before the offensive on a reconnaissance trench raiding trip.
The party was ambushed and brutally attacked leaving over half of the men killed or wounded just before they reached the barbed wire across the middle of no-man's land. The survivors brought the wounded back and reported that although the trenches were 'full of men' the wire seemed to be cut. This was to prove not to be the case the following morning. The Bradford Press reported that Henry had died of wounds on the 2nd of July 1916, 48 hours after his actual death perhaps in an attempt to cover up the true circumstances. This was a particularly important raid as well as another Clayton casualty, 2nd Lieutenant John Worsnop was killed in action along with Greenwood.
Henry Bernard Greenwood had grown up in the area and had lived with his wife Hilda at 10, Harlow Road, Lidget Green only a short distance from his parents William and Mary who lived at 80, Cumberland Road. He was employed by Messrs. Jonas Sharp & Sons Ltd. of Hall Ings until he enlisted as a Private at the formation of the 2nd Pals in early January 1915. He quickly gained promotion to Sergeant and stayed with the Pals throughout all their training and early active service until the time of his death. During his early twenties he was the Captain of Clayton Association Football Club and his parents were the curators of Clayton Liberal Club. Again, his death was a sad one to the community as he was a well-known and prominent member of Clayton village life.
Private Albert Hainsworth
CH/18049, 1st R.M. Bn. R.N. Div., Royal Marine Light Infantry who died on 13 November 1916 of wounds on the Somme Age 20
A professional soldier, Albert had joined up in early 1913 aged 16 (so although underage was still technically an 'Old Contemptible', as he was sent to France in September 1914) into the 1st Battalion, Royal Marines Light Infantry, a unit with i reputation for being 'elite'. This group of men was effectively the Royal Navy's ground troops, and during earlier periods were formed specifically for use as boarding parties to create havoc on enemy ships during close combat sea battles.
However, during the First World War this unit was totally land based and very quickly became an infantry regiment just like any other, although they did have the distinction of being some of the first men to land on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. Albert was amongst them and served there for over six months before being returned to France. He landed at Suvla Bay, one of the major battle sites of that particular campaign and managed to survive his time there without injury.
Upon his return to France Albert had a fairly unremarkable time for the first half of 1916, until the Battle of the Somme when his battalion were sent into the slaughter at the front line in early July. He managed to escape the initial stages of the batle, but was wounded at the end of October 1916 and placed in a field hospital near to the front. Word was sent to his father back in Bradford who duly informed the local paper. Unfortunately since this message had been sent, Albert had returned to the trenches and had been killed in action. Mr. B. Hainsworth's announcement that Albert had been wounded but was alright was published in the paper on the 5th January 1917 nearly two months after Albert's death. This lack of efficient communication was to leave many families grieving even more as they struggled to come to Terms with the death of their loved ones.
Albert had lived on Druids Street, Clayton, for all of his life before enlisting in 1913
Private Alfred Edward Haywood
S/40043, 2nd Bn., Seaforth Highlanders who
died on 17 October 1916 on the Somme Age 19
Alfred was born at Gomersal and moved to Clayton with his parents and two brothers. In actual fact, the three brothers joined up together, Philip being sent to another Highland Regiment and Joe being placed in an English Regiment. Alfred enlisted into the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders virtually the day war broke out (at this point he had only just turned 17) and was given the low service number of 5223.
Within the village Alfred was well known for two reasons, mainly as a musician as he was the cornet soloist for Clayton Silver Prize Band, but also because he worked with other Claytonians in Messrs. Lupin & Place, Loom Makers. He lived with his parents, Philip and Ellen Haywood at 20, Bradford Road.
Alfed was killed during the Somme campaign like so many other men from the district, but at a point when the casualties were becoming (slightly) lighter. Around this time the campaign had slowed to a gradual halt, with the British high command sending over troops sporadically in the hope of catching the German's unprepared. Unfortunately, this never really happened and more losses were incurred to the Allies. At the time of his death, Alfred's parents were extremely concerned for all of their sons, as they had just learned that Philip was in hospital wounded and Joe had been posted to Egypt. The news that Alfred was missing in action probably came as a crushing blow on top of everything else.
Private James Mitchell
5750, 1st/5th Bn., Duke of Wellington's
(West Riding Regiment) who died of wounds received
on the Somme on 16 September 1916 Age 37
James came home and died of wounds he received in action. He attested to the lst 5th Duke of Wellington's in Halifax, after volunteering in April 1915 and on completion of his training landed in France in early August 1916.
Less than seven weeks later James was severely wounded by shrapnel during the capturing of some German trenches and was taken back to a base hospital. He was quickly shipped back to a hospital in Cambridge where he died of his wounds on Saturday 16th September.
On the day before his family had been 'wired' to say that he was dangerously ill and that they must come to see him — his two elder brothers made the journey down overnight, but on their arrival on Saturday morning found that he died just an hour before.
James had grown up in Clayton and was the youngest son of Henry and Ann Mitchell of Crestville Terrace. He had worked as a stone quarryman for many years before his time in the army. The Bradford Weekly Telegraph published a death notice the following Friday and gave the following description of James:
"He had a genial temperament and in days of old was one of Clayton Rugby teams best players."
He was a long standing member of the Gatehouse Working Men's Club which flew their flag at half mast as a sign of respect on the day of his funeral at the Baptist Churchyard.
Private Jasper Harrison
16495, 12th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales's Own) who died on 23 July 1916
Age 41
A further Somme casualty, Jasper was killed in action and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial. In 1901 he was working as a Deputy Manager at a coal mine in Halifax but by 1914 was living at 10, King Street, Morley, Leeds with his wife. He enlisted in Leeds into the 12th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment. He was the Son of Jeremiah and Mary Harrison of Yews Green
Private Alfred Hodgson
16/926, 16th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales's Own) who died on 01 July 1916
On the Sommes age 20
A further member of the 1st Bradford Pals, Alfred had joined up in September 1914 to embark on 'the adventure of a lifetime' with many of his friends and neighbours. He had previously worked as a dyer's labourer before enlisting and had lived on Lidget Terrace with his parents and younger brother for most of his life. His experiences of training and initiation into trench warfare were shared with several other men from Clayton, most of whom became casualties as well. However, a piece of evidence survives today which can shed some light on what happened to Alfred during the first few hours of that nightmare day. He had been attached to the battalion's Machine Gun Section, and one of its members survived to record their experiences. These have been published in Ralph Hudson's 'Bradford Pals' book.
The extract, as told by Private Price, reads:
" ...my own section was wiped out when we went into no-man's land. We were about 70yards out and I saw Captain Clough (officer commanding 'D' Company) on our left, and further on our left another gun. We went out and over the parapet at a slow double...I looked at the front line but could see no Germans. We stayed there for some time-until about 2.00pm ...Of the Machine Gun Section to which I was attached, five of the six got into no-man's land before being hit."
This statement tells us that more than likely, Alfred Hodgson had clambered into no-man's land and actually seen the carnage erupting around him before a few short minutes he, too, became one of the ever mounting casualties just a few yards in front of the British Front lines.
Private Joseph Firth
20/169, 18th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales's Own) from Lidgett Green who died on 01 July 1916 at the Somme
Joseph was another of the gallant Bradford Pals who again fell on that sunny Saturday morning, but unlike all the other Clayton Pals, was not with them from the beginning.
When the 16th Battalion West Yorkshire Regt (the 1st Bradford Pals) was formed their ranks were overflowing, and so as a result another battalion was raised (the 18th West Yorks. or 2nd Bradford Pals) but with this came a need to keep these battalions at full strength without keeping the additional men with the regular battalions (due to spatial constrictions). It was a similar case with the Leeds Pals, so as a result a reserve 'supply' battalion was formed, consisting of the men who had volunteered with the Bradford and Leeds Pals but who were deemed 'unfit for active service' at the time. It was given the title of 20th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, and it was to this that Joseph belonged.
The fate of these men was uncertain, with three options facing them: being discharged as medically unfit; being transferred to the Yorkshire Garrison Artillery' for home service (similar to the Home Guard in the Second World War) or, finally, being sent to the front as replacements for casualties within the Pals battalions.
It was Joseph's fate to be declared fit for active duties and sent to the 2nd Bradford Pals just a few days before the Somme Offensive to replace men lost by the battalion in May and early June. He went over the top with his fellow city men, and must have seen the carnage being inflicted on the helpless Bradfordians as he himself was hit and badly wounded. At some point during the day he dragged himself back across no-man's land and the shattered British trench line to find medical support (very few stretcher bearers managed to get onto the battlefield until nightfall in the mid-evening) and was eventually taken slightly further behind the lines. He died of his wounds there and was buried in Euston Road Cemetery, virtually on the front line of the time. This cemetery was soon to be full of Pals as the death count rose and rose with many bodies being brought in from the battlefield.
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