THOMAS WILLIAM YATES
Private 200266
1st/4th Battalion Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Thomas William Yates was born in the summer of 1889, the first son of George and Sarah Yates. George married Sarah Essam on 14th August 1888 at Woodford in Northamptonshire. George was working as a railway engine fireman at the time, a career which would bring favourable opportunities.
Within the next year, just before Thomas was born, the newly weds moved to live on Wellington Street in New Whittington. George had been promoted to a railway engine driver, the family were doing well for themselves. A few years later in 1894 a second son was born, named Charles Henry and by 1901 the family was complete after baby girl Rhoda Emma was born in 1900. The Yates family were living at 69 Wellington Street.
"A plus" scholar....
Thomas was lucky and gained an education at the local grammar school. It is possible that he had been admitted into the school by a free scholarship which was awarded to the children of the elementary schools who were deemed as high achievers. This education would become the basis for Thomas' later life when he worked as a teacher at both Old Whittington and Whittington Moor schools.
1911 the eve of war....
Thomas now aged 21 years old was recorded as "William" on the actual census return. The 1911 census was the first census to be completed by the home owner rather than an enumerator, so it's likely that Thomas may well have used his middle name William as his everyday name. He was recorded as being a student on this census, most likely receiving his further education in teaching.
The whole family had moved home once again and lived at 39 High Street, still in the village of New Whittington. George was still employed as a train driver for the Midland Railway. Charles was an apprentice architect and Rhoda aged 11 attended school.
Thomas' war....
Unfortunately the service records for Thomas have not survived but we can piece together some of his war service using other contemporary records such as; medal cards, medal rolls, CWGC records, newspaper reports and war diaries.
Thomas enlisted not long after the outbreak of WW1. He was a student at the time studying at Culham College in Oxford. It may be that a recruitment officer visited the college to encourage the men to enlist as he signed his papers at Culham.
Thomas not surprisingly joined up with a local battalion to Culham College, he enlisted with the 1/4th Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Oxford & Bucks LI). He is noted as having two different service numbers; 1935 and 200266, the latter being his regimental number on his death. Thomas served as a Private rank, however many of his fellow students may well have been placed straight into Officer ranks due to their class and education.
Once he had enlisted he would be sent to training camp where he would be taught how to become an effective soldier; use of a weapon, discipline and physical drills would be a daily ritual. The 1/4th Battalion Oxford & Bucks were stationed at Whittle near Chelmsford until they were mobilsed for war at the end of March 1915. The battalion took part in a parade which would be full of fanfare and celebration as the local community saw the brave soldiers off to war. They then took a train to Folkestone where they boarded the SS Onward.
Thomas' medal card states that he "entered the theatre of war - France" on 29th March 1915. This was the day when 2 Officers and 84 other ranks of the 1/4th left the shores of England to arrive in Boulogne, France at 11 pm that night. Thomas was one of the 84 other ranks to join the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) with the first group of men from the 1/4th Oxford & Bucks LI.
The 1/4th were part of the 145th Brigade 48th (South Midlands) Division. They saw service in some of the most bloody battles of WW1 including being present on the Somme during 1916.
The Battle of Albert as it became known was the opening battle of the Somme offensive. The 1/4th spent the month of June 1916 working on laying cables and moving equipment such as heavy guns and weapons. At 9.20 am on 1st July the men began their march to Mailley-Mallet, each man carrying "2 grenades, 2 sandbags apiece, while one Platoon A Company, carried picks and shovels". The roads were crammed full of moving army convoys, the column of troops was often stopped to allow passing ammunition trucks through their path. The war diary tells that "Many contradictory rumours circulated as to progress of the fighting, but no official news". Thomas and his comrades would have no idea that this very day would result in such a massive number of casualties for the B.E.F. they suffered over 19,000 fatalities on the 1st July 1916. Nor would they be aware of how very infamous that day would become or the consequences of such a battle with its stalemate progress.
The next day orders were received that the Brigade would attack on 3rd July, its target was to take the 1st line German trenches north of the Ancre. By 11.30 pm however, these orders had been withdrawn and the battalion were returned to billets at Couin & St Ledger. On 4th they moved into trenches near Hebuterne and relieved the 1/7th Warwickshire Regiment.
On 18th July the battalion received orders for the following day; to attack in between Ovillers and Poziers. The war diary states that at 1.30 am "attack launched but held up" and at around 3 am "2nd attack ordered, but not practicable, owing to congestion of trench rendering reorganisation impossible". It was chaos; by 4.15 am the attack had again been called off. The men returned to billets at Bouzincourt where they rested.
In action on the west of Poziers....
The battle of Poziers Ridge began on 23rd July 1916. The 1/4th battalion launched their attack at 12.30 am, the first hour seeing some success and some failures when the platoons became disorganised as the planned sequence of attack became mixed up. The left hand platoons were said to have suffered high casualties due to this situation. The battalion were relieved on 24th and retired to a "field outside Albert". They were then moved on to another area and by the end of July were in billets at Agenville.
On the first day of the Battle of Poziers the 1/4th Battalion Oxford & Bucks LI war diary records the following casualties:
Life went on....
George and Sarah Yates I have not been able to pin point an exact death for either of Thomas' parents, due their being several possibilities the death certificates would need to be purchased.
Charles Yates continued to live in the family home of 39 High Street. He married Keturah Bridgett in 1921 and had a son named Charles D in 1923. Charles snr worked as an architect and surveyor. In 1939 both father and son were doing their bit for the war effort on the home front; Charles snr was an air raid warden and his son was an auxiliary fireman both in the local town of Chesterfield.
Charles snr died in 1967 aged 73 years of age.
Rhoda Yates married William Fuller a clerk at St Bartholomew's Church in Old Whittington on 1st October 1923. Her brother Charles was present at the happy event and signed the marriage register as a witness.
Rhoda and William had three children; Kathleen, Geoffrey and Barbara and lived at 29 Netherthorpe Road in Staveley in 1939. William had worked his way up the career ladder and was chief clerk at the colliery. Rhoda died in 1978 aged 78.
1911 the eve of war....
Thomas now aged 21 years old was recorded as "William" on the actual census return. The 1911 census was the first census to be completed by the home owner rather than an enumerator, so it's likely that Thomas may well have used his middle name William as his everyday name. He was recorded as being a student on this census, most likely receiving his further education in teaching.
The whole family had moved home once again and lived at 39 High Street, still in the village of New Whittington. George was still employed as a train driver for the Midland Railway. Charles was an apprentice architect and Rhoda aged 11 attended school.
Thomas' war....
Unfortunately the service records for Thomas have not survived but we can piece together some of his war service using other contemporary records such as; medal cards, medal rolls, CWGC records, newspaper reports and war diaries.
Thomas enlisted not long after the outbreak of WW1. He was a student at the time studying at Culham College in Oxford. It may be that a recruitment officer visited the college to encourage the men to enlist as he signed his papers at Culham.
Thomas not surprisingly joined up with a local battalion to Culham College, he enlisted with the 1/4th Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Oxford & Bucks LI). He is noted as having two different service numbers; 1935 and 200266, the latter being his regimental number on his death. Thomas served as a Private rank, however many of his fellow students may well have been placed straight into Officer ranks due to their class and education.
Once he had enlisted he would be sent to training camp where he would be taught how to become an effective soldier; use of a weapon, discipline and physical drills would be a daily ritual. The 1/4th Battalion Oxford & Bucks were stationed at Whittle near Chelmsford until they were mobilsed for war at the end of March 1915. The battalion took part in a parade which would be full of fanfare and celebration as the local community saw the brave soldiers off to war. They then took a train to Folkestone where they boarded the SS Onward.
Thomas' medal card states that he "entered the theatre of war - France" on 29th March 1915. This was the day when 2 Officers and 84 other ranks of the 1/4th left the shores of England to arrive in Boulogne, France at 11 pm that night. Thomas was one of the 84 other ranks to join the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) with the first group of men from the 1/4th Oxford & Bucks LI.
The 1/4th were part of the 145th Brigade 48th (South Midlands) Division. They saw service in some of the most bloody battles of WW1 including being present on the Somme during 1916.
The Battle of Albert as it became known was the opening battle of the Somme offensive. The 1/4th spent the month of June 1916 working on laying cables and moving equipment such as heavy guns and weapons. At 9.20 am on 1st July the men began their march to Mailley-Mallet, each man carrying "2 grenades, 2 sandbags apiece, while one Platoon A Company, carried picks and shovels". The roads were crammed full of moving army convoys, the column of troops was often stopped to allow passing ammunition trucks through their path. The war diary tells that "Many contradictory rumours circulated as to progress of the fighting, but no official news". Thomas and his comrades would have no idea that this very day would result in such a massive number of casualties for the B.E.F. they suffered over 19,000 fatalities on the 1st July 1916. Nor would they be aware of how very infamous that day would become or the consequences of such a battle with its stalemate progress.
The next day orders were received that the Brigade would attack on 3rd July, its target was to take the 1st line German trenches north of the Ancre. By 11.30 pm however, these orders had been withdrawn and the battalion were returned to billets at Couin & St Ledger. On 4th they moved into trenches near Hebuterne and relieved the 1/7th Warwickshire Regiment.
On 18th July the battalion received orders for the following day; to attack in between Ovillers and Poziers. The war diary states that at 1.30 am "attack launched but held up" and at around 3 am "2nd attack ordered, but not practicable, owing to congestion of trench rendering reorganisation impossible". It was chaos; by 4.15 am the attack had again been called off. The men returned to billets at Bouzincourt where they rested.
In action on the west of Poziers....
The battle of Poziers Ridge began on 23rd July 1916. The 1/4th battalion launched their attack at 12.30 am, the first hour seeing some success and some failures when the platoons became disorganised as the planned sequence of attack became mixed up. The left hand platoons were said to have suffered high casualties due to this situation. The battalion were relieved on 24th and retired to a "field outside Albert". They were then moved on to another area and by the end of July were in billets at Agenville.
On the first day of the Battle of Poziers the 1/4th Battalion Oxford & Bucks LI war diary records the following casualties:
"Other ranks -
40 killed
5 missing believed killed
3 missing believed wounded
164 wounded
18 missing
TOTAL - 230 men"
"Other ranks -
9 killed
3 missing
48 wounded"
Dawn of 1917....
The month of January was a relatively peaceful one for the battalion. Up until 9th January they were based in camp at Bresle when they moved on to the town of Cerisy-Buleux. They remained their until the 29th when they moved on again to the town of Hamel. The month was spent undertaking training and lectures, with some spare time football matches thrown in. The weather was wet in the early days but became snowy and very cold towards the end of the month.
In February the war diary records that the men "carried out the new French preventative treatment for trench feet". They were part of a trial carried out whereby the old method of rubbing whale oil was compared to a new French idea. The new method required the men to wash and thoroughly dry their feet before applying a powder which was made from borated talc and castor oil. Socks would then be placed over the newly cleaned and protected feet. The trial concluded that their were no benefits to using the new method and so the British Army stuck with the tried and tested whale oil method.
For most of February and on into March the battalion took tours of the trenches stationed in "Sophie trench" at Herbecourt and then returned to billets at Marly Camp. They saw some heavy artillery fire and recorded many men wounded and killed during those two months. The weather was still bad with snow at times, this caused the trenches to be a terrible state and made relief manoeuvres very slow.
April 1917....
Thomas and his comrades spent an enjoyable Easter Sunday in camp near Villers - Faucon. The men took mass; the Wesleyan service at 10 am and the Church of England in the evening at 7 pm. There was also entertainment when "Pte Kennedy gave a concert with assistance from his friend "Ragtime" and others". The war diary also noted the change in weather "Everyone very glad to see a bit of sun & hoping for spring weather at last". But as with April weather, the next day was "Very cold and squally weather again".
On 18th April a patrol of men from A Company (Coy) were sent out towards Gillemont Farm where they found the area to be strongly held by the enemy. Later that day orders were received "for an attack on the farm tonight by D Coy". The actual plans for this attack were changed several times until the attack was eventually called of for the time being.
19th April 1917....
The morning of 19th April saw A Coy return to view the enemy at Gillemont Farm to gain more detailed information. They now noted that there were machine guns placed on top of the ridge. It was then decided once more that D Coy would attack that evening, with C Coy in support and B Coy would commence any consolidation work afterwards.
At 19.30 pm the war diary records "D Coy in position in two lines with 5 paces interval. When ridge was reached heavy MG fire was opened. Lines moved on, support platoons having reinforced so as to make one line". The heavy fire continued, despite the enemy being seen leaving their trenches on the north west of the farm. The 1/4th battalion continued to advance under the heavy machine gun fire but suffered badly until at 21.30 pm the men were eventually ordered to withdraw when it "became impossible to maintain the advance".
A Coy were complimented on their efforts in assisting the stretcher bears rescuing the wounded and "all were successfully evacuated". The war diary for the day of 19th April 1917 records the following numbers of casualties;
9 killed
3 missing
48 wounded"
Private 200266 Thomas William Yates was killed in action on 19th April 1917, he was 28 years of age.
Thomas has no known grave, he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. His memorial ref is; Pier and Face 10A and 10D.
Private Thomas William Yates 200266 was awarded the 15 Star, Victory and British War medals for his service.
Thomas was remembered in the Derbyshire Times dated 5th May 1917 page 8. The obituary included a photograph of Thomas and read....
"A promising career in the educational world
has been prematurely ended by the death
of Pte. T.W Yates son of Mr and Mrs G Yates,
Handley Road, New Whittington.
Aged 28 years Pte. Yates was educated at Chesterfield
Grammar School, and afterwards was a teacher
at Old Whittington and Whittington Moor.
On the outbreak of war he was studying at Culham College,
but immediately enlisted in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry.
He went to France just over two years ago and had
been twice wounded, viz., in the head and face"
Thomas was also remembered on the Chesterfield Grammar School's Roll of Honour.
Life went on....
George and Sarah Yates I have not been able to pin point an exact death for either of Thomas' parents, due their being several possibilities the death certificates would need to be purchased.
Charles Yates continued to live in the family home of 39 High Street. He married Keturah Bridgett in 1921 and had a son named Charles D in 1923. Charles snr worked as an architect and surveyor. In 1939 both father and son were doing their bit for the war effort on the home front; Charles snr was an air raid warden and his son was an auxiliary fireman both in the local town of Chesterfield.
Charles snr died in 1967 aged 73 years of age.
Rhoda Yates married William Fuller a clerk at St Bartholomew's Church in Old Whittington on 1st October 1923. Her brother Charles was present at the happy event and signed the marriage register as a witness.
Rhoda and William had three children; Kathleen, Geoffrey and Barbara and lived at 29 Netherthorpe Road in Staveley in 1939. William had worked his way up the career ladder and was chief clerk at the colliery. Rhoda died in 1978 aged 78.
*****
If you may be connected to this family or have any further information on Thomas William Yates or his family please do either leave comments via the pen icon below or drop me an email.
I hope that I have not given details of living persons, if so please advise and I will remove immediately.
Please note all information has been taken from online indexes and sources. Due to the sheer numbers of people to be researched I am unable to purchase vital event certificates to confirm my research.
I hope that I have not given details of living persons, if so please advise and I will remove immediately.
Please note all information has been taken from online indexes and sources. Due to the sheer numbers of people to be researched I am unable to purchase vital event certificates to confirm my research.
*****
With special thanks to Wendy Pockson for her help
regarding Thomas' Grammar School Roll of Honour
and for use of the photograph.
*****
With special thanks to Wendy Pockson for her help
regarding Thomas' Grammar School Roll of Honour
and for use of the photograph.
*****
Ref and further reading -
Census
Census
Parish registers
Medal rolls
Medal cards
Medal cards
Soldiers who died in the Great war
Register of soldiers effects
War diaries www.ancestry.co.uk
War diaries www.ancestry.co.uk
Newspaper articles -
Derbyshire Times - 5th May 1917 page 8
Derbyshire Times - 5th May 1917 page 8
War diaries - 1/4th Battalion Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry WO 95 / 2764/1
Also available is the transcript of the war diary to read freely http://www.weymouthsands.co.uk/diary/
1/4th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Rollof honour - http://oxfordandbucks.co.uk/Roll_of_Honour.htm
Culham College http://www.culhamcollege.co.uk/
Battle of Poziers Ridge http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/pozieres.htm
French preventative treatment for trench foot https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LgcrBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=1917+French+treatment+for+trench+foot&source=bl&ots=_QBNDAmaAr&sig=O063tdMTkYmXEsG4pIVuulS1K5I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwqpv6iNDaAhUjKMAKHYY-D5kQ6AEIbzAI#v=onepage&q=1917%20French%20treatment%20for%20trench%20foot&f=false
Also available is the transcript of the war diary to read freely http://www.weymouthsands.co.uk/diary/
1/4th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Rollof honour - http://oxfordandbucks.co.uk/Roll_of_Honour.htm
Culham College http://www.culhamcollege.co.uk/
Battle of Poziers Ridge http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/pozieres.htm
French preventative treatment for trench foot https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LgcrBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=1917+French+treatment+for+trench+foot&source=bl&ots=_QBNDAmaAr&sig=O063tdMTkYmXEsG4pIVuulS1K5I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwqpv6iNDaAhUjKMAKHYY-D5kQ6AEIbzAI#v=onepage&q=1917%20French%20treatment%20for%20trench%20foot&f=false
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