Harry was born sometime in the 2nd quarter of 1880 in Richmond North Yorkshire. He was the son of John James and Martha Kinchin of 11 Castle Hill Richmond. His father worked as a joiner. Harry was the eldest of eight children. The 1901 census shows Harry, 20, Walter 18, Allanson 16, Annie, 14, Moses 11, Martha 8, Elizabeth 5 and James Stroud 1. By the 1911 census Harry was married to Priscilla and had two daughters, Lilla 7 and Muriel Martha 1, and a son Walter 4. Harry also made a living as a joiner. At the time they resided at 7 Reynoldson Yard in Richmond.
At the outbreak of war Harry and his brother Allanson joined up and went into the 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Harry and Allanson left with the 4th Battalion from Newcastle for France on the 17th April 1915 and after disembarking at Boulogne on the 18th arrived at Ypres by the 23rd. The Battalion was immediately involved in the 2nd Battle of Ypres and on the 24th April were ordered to make an attack on St Julien. During the attack 5 officers and 10 other ranks were killed. On the next day, the 25th, the Battalion had just the one man killed in the trenches. Harry’s death is recorded as the 25th so he could have been that single death, or it’s possible that he was actually killed the day before. He was 34 years of age.
Harry may have been buried after his death only for it to be destroyed by subsequent shelling. Harry has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres.
Footnote: An interesting story from the Darlington and Stockton Times of Friday September 2006 relates to Harry’s body being found by his brother Allanson who subsequently made a makeshift grave and buried him. We have tried to find evidence to support this story, but have thus far found none.
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William McNally VC
William was born on the 16th December 1894 in the village of Murton in County Durham. At 14 he would follow his father down the pit at Mutton Colliery. At the outbreak of war he enlisted on the 3rd September, aged 20, into the Yorkshire Regiment, The Green Howards, and was posted to the 8th (Service) Battalion. The Battalion travelled to France in August 19115 as part of the 69th Brigade, 23rd Division. It was during the Somme offensive in 1916 that William would win his first Military medal, having gone out into no-man’s-land to rescue a wounded officer. The following year during 3rd Ypres, generally known as Passcheandaele, he received a bar to his Military Medal, again recuing men wounded or buried under shellfire. In late 1917 he was part of the detachment of British and French troops sent to the Italian front to bolster the Italians after their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Caparetto. In October of 1918 the allied advance culminated in their victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto paving the way for the total defeat of the Austrian Army. It was during this battle that William received the Victoria Cross having put to flight the enemy and capturing a machine gun. William left the Army in February 1919 and returned to life down the pit at Murton Colliery. He married and would father 6 children. In 1940 he joined the Local Defence Volunteers in Murton and the following year served in the Durham Home…
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Joseph D Raw MM
Joseph was born around 1897 in Aysgarth North Yorkshire. His father James was a cowman on a local farm. The 1911 census shows one other child, a son Simon. Before joining up Joseph was employed as a farm hand in West Burton. Joseph enlisted at Leyburn joining the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. By September 1916 he was at the front. Joseph would prove to be a brave soldier, twice being recommended for distinction. He was finally rewarded at the end of April 1918 when he received the Military Medal for gallantry he had shown during the action in the St. Quentin area from March 21st to the 28th. Sadly one week later he was dead. On the 6th May the Battalion was in the Ypres Salient. During heavy engagements with the enemy he was killed on the 8th May. He was 21 years of age. His body was never recovered. Private Joseph Dixon Raw MM is commemorated at the Tyne Cot Cemetery.
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Richard Oliver
Richard Oliver was 22 years old when he enlisted at Cramlington in September 1914. He was from Esh Winning, Crook, Co. Durham and was a miner. He enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers but was posted to the Yorkshire Regiment. He served in the 9th and 10th Battalions and whilst with the 10th Battalion in 1915 he was awarded the Military Medal. He served in France and Italy and became disabled due to the effects of gassing. He was discharged in March 1920 and was initially given a pension of 8 shillings a week, but this was subsequently withdrawn and his appeal rejected. He left the army as a Corporal, he served in France from 1915 to 1917 and on the Italian Front from November 1917 until December 1918.