Friday 9 November 2018

100 Years - Lest we Forget



100 Years - Lest We Forget



Extract from For The Fallen by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

We all have someone in our family tree that went to war, and never came home. For some the relationship was very close - fathers, brothers, sons, and more recently mothers, sisters and daughters.

Most of us will have uncles, great uncles and great great uncles who went to war between 1914 and 1918 and never came home. Many did not leave descendants because they were just boys and young men.

My great-grandfather, Charles Henry Yorke, came from a military family. He tried many times to join up, but each time he was rejected due to ill health. When WWI was declared, he joined the Medical Corp and was a stretcher bearer throughout the war.

He survived but his brother, David, didn't.

This year, 2018, is the hundreth anniversary of the end of World War I. Armistice was declared at 11am on 11th November 1918.

This is in remebrance of all that fell, but especially to those mentioned below.

My relatives - my family.



David Yorke
17th Feb 1915 - aged 38
My great-uncle

Second Lieutenant 2nd Battalion, The Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. 28th Division. Killed in action near Ypres 17th Feb 1915.
Buried in Perth Cemetery (China Wall) Belgium.


David was brother to my great grandfather, Charles. He was a military man who had served in India. When he died he was married to Mabel Alice Bampton aged 29. They had two daughters.

Mabel Alice who was six years old

Adeline Maud "Billie" Yorke who was five. Billie Yorke was a sucessful tennis player winning doubles at Wimbledon and the French Open in 1936.

Albert Mackerness
15th Sept 1916  The Somme- aged 24
My 2nd Cousin

Private 2nd (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers). no 7640 Killed in Action 15th Sept 1916

Buried Thiepval, Somme, France

Albert was the youngest son to Charles and Harriett Mackerness. He was not married. He had two older sisters, Emily who died in 1907 aged 21, and Harriett, who as far as I know never married. He had an older brother, Charles, who also died in WWI. His mother had died in 1893, when he was just five.

Edgar Mackerness*
16th Sept 1916 - The Somme - aged 20
My 1st Cousin

Private Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex) Regiment no TF/5589 Killed in Action

Buried Thiepval, Somme, France

Edgar was the only son of George and Florence, he had one sibling, a sister Ann. He wasn't married. His mother died when he was a baby and he was brought up by his maternal grandparents.

Charles Mackerness
25th Nov 1917 France & Flanders - aged 29
My 2nd Cousin

Lance Serjeant Royal Welch Fusiliers, 2nd bn. no 9391

Buried Tyne Cot, Belgium

Charles was the eldest son to Charles and Harriett Mackerness. He was not married. He had two sisters, Emily who died in 1907 aged 21, and Harriett, who as far as I know never married. He had a younger brother, Albert, who also died in WWI. His mother had died in 1893, less than a year after he was born. Charles was a military man and had already served in India.

Thomas Richard Sturley
16th April 1917 France - aged 34
My 5th Cousin

Buried Wancourt British Cemetry, Calais, France

Sergeant 20th Battalion Royal Fusiliers no PS5686

Thomas was the fifth of nine children to William and Mary Sturley, and was a bachelor.


Alfred John Mackerness
21st Mar 1918 France - aged 30
My 2nd Cousin

Buried St Souplet British Cemetry, Nord, France

Private Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry no 17073

Alfred was the seventh child of ten to William and Jane. He had eight brothers and a sister. All except Alfred survived WWI.
George and Francis were in the RAF,
Sydney was in the Royal Army Medical Corp and
Frank Henry in the Northamptonshire Regiment. Frank Henry was injured in 1815 and was kept a prisioner of war until the end of the war.

Swann Ripsher
15th June 1918 Italy - aged 25
My 2nd Cousin

Buried Magnaboschi British Cemetry, Italy

Private 11th bn Northumberland fusiliers no 42481

Swann Ripsher was married to Annie and had two children, Georgina born 1915 and Swann born 1917.


William Henry Ripsher 
21st Aug 1918 France & Flanders - aged 37
My 2nd Great Uncle

Buried Gommecourt British Cemetry no 2, France

Private 4th bn, Bedfordshire Regiment no 19231

William was married to Elizabeth and they had four children. Edward, Winifred, Constance and Harold.

George Henry Sturley
24th Oct 1918 France & Flanders - aged 34

Buried Premont British Cemetry, France

Gunner, 287th siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery.

George was the son of Frederick and Amelia. He was not married. His brothers, Frederick and Charles both served in WWI and survived.

Researching my family tree is an ongoing project. If I find more, I will add them here too.
*Added after publication

Lest We Forget.

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