John was born on the 8th August 1855, the only son of Robert and Mary Lodge of The Rookery Bishopdale near Aysgarth. He was educated at St. Peter’s School, York and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He graduated MA in 1879 and was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple, London in 1883.
At 18, John had joined the 5th West York Militia, which became the 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment in 1881.
He would serve with the battalion in the 2nd Boer War (1899-1902). The Aysgarth parish magazine of June 1902 reported on his return from two years’ active service.
“A large and enthusiastic crowd met him at the station, the West Burton Band playing appropriate airs. After much hand shaking and cheering, Mr Tomlinson in an admirable speech welcomed Colonel Lodge back to Wensleydale… After Colonel Lodge replied, giving a most interesting sketch of what he had had to do in South Africa, the band headed the procession from the station, Colonel Lodge riding in a wagonette with his sisters.”
From 1906 until retirement in 1912 he would be the Battalion Commander. At the outbreak of the First World War, John offered his services and returned to his old Battalion as Major, remaining with it until May 5th 1916 when he was appointed to the command of a Garrison Battalion.
As Squire of Bishopdale, Colonel Lodge was a Justice of the Peace for the North Riding and was on the Yorkshire Fisheries Board. He was a skilled angler and marksman. John never married. He died at home after a short illness on the 23rd August 1917 aged 60.
John Lodge had been associated with the Yorkshire Regiment for 43 years.
In October 2021, a portrait of John Lodge was donated to the museum. Read the story here.
Explore more memories from the ribbon
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Captain Amis
Submitted by Robert Amis. Captain Henry Amis (Robert’s grandfather) was commissioned into the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant on 12 March 1915, Henry Amis transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Family legend has it that 2Lt Amis was prone to crashing, which may account for his transfer back to the Yorkshire Regiment. The then Captain Amis was again serving with the 5th Battalion when on 28 October 1917 he was wounded and evacuated, suffering from the effects of mustard gas. Once he had recovered, he returned to the front line where he faced Germany’s final throw of the dice, the so called ‘Kaiser’s battle’ which was unleashed on 21 March 1918. Henry and the 5th battalion were in the thick of the fighting; trying to hold back the German advance. On 27 May 1918 he, along with 24 other officers and 638 Other Ranks, was declared missing. Amongst the papers donated to the museum by Robert is the diary of Captain Amis’ girlfriend, Dorothy Beckton. On 10 June 1918 she wrote… ‘Telegram saying my H G missing. I felt a sort of stunned at first…A horrible time of despondency, but there is really no need. I think my darling boy is almost sure to be a prisoner in Germany. It is rather heavy waiting but as soon as I can hear that he is safe, will be alright. And we shall be able to make up afterwards. I hope they will treat the dear old…
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2nd Lt J S Purvis
Canon John Purvis OBE (1890-1968) Canon John Purvis was an extremely talented artist and photographer. He is best remembered however for his historical and literary achievements. His translation of the original York Mystery Plays into modern English were central to their revival during the Festival of Britain in 1951. This work, along with his initiation of the Borthwick Institute for Archives in York, lead to his OBE in 1958. Purvis was born in Bridlington 1890. After studying at Cambridge University he worked at Cranleigh School as a history teacher, a role to which he would return after the First World War. He enlisted with the Yorkshire Regiment, serving with the 5th Battalion from early 1916. Purvis was wounded during the Battle of the Somme on the first occasion he went ‘over the top’. On that day, 15th September 1916, he had recorded history’s first tank attack in pen and ink in the early light of dawn. Two well known war poems, ‘High Wood’ and ‘Chance Memory’, originally published under the pseudonym Philip Johns(t)one are now known to have been written by Purvis.
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John Sweeney
John Sweeny was 22 years of age when he enlisted in the Yorkshire Regiment in late 1914. He was the son of John and Mary Sweeney of Washington Station, Co. Durham. The 8th Battalion arrived in France in late August 1915 and John is reported to have been wounded in that November. He was again wounded in December 1916 and was killed in action in August 1917. The only reported 8th Battalion casualties at this period were working as Yukon Pack Carriers, re-supplying the front line with munitions in the area of Ypres. He is commemorated on Panel 33 of the Menin Gate at Ypres, Belgium. 144466 Private John Sweeney of ‘A’ Company was awarded the 15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.