Researched by Paul Gayton.
Private Tempest was in the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment and he was killed on the 1st of July 1916 (the first day of the Battle of the Somme) aged only 16 years of age. We believe that he is the youngest army fatality commemorated on the memorial in Friary Gardens.
He was born in Richmond and his birth is registered in the 3rd quarter (July to September) 1900, so it is possible he may even have been 15 when he was killed.
His parents were Thomas and Emily Annie Tempest. He had 3 older sisters, Edith Rose, Florence Ruth and Emily Ann. Also he had an elder bother Frances William. The family lived in nearby Sleegill where his father worked as a paper maker. The paper making industry on the river Swale existed in Richmond from the 1700s but ended in 1931.
Charles Percy enlisted on the 22nd of August 1915 and was initially posted to the 3rd Battalion. In 1916 he transferred to the 2nd Battalion for active service in France. He is buried at Danzig Alley British cemetery at Mametz and his name is among the others that are commemorated in Friary Gardens.
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James Scott Bainbridge
Submitted by Pat Burgess. James Scott Bainbridge was born on 10 October 1887, the youngest of three sons, to William and Isabella, the family lived in Ravensworth. On leaving Barnard Castle school he joined the staff of the chemical laboratory of Rowntree & Co. of York. He subsequently spent three years at Leeds University where he graduated Bsc with first class honours in chemistry; he also took the Associateship of the Institute of Chemists, later becoming a Fellow of that Institute. He returned to the staff of Rowntrees and remained there until just before the war, when he was appointed chemist to the Thorne Colliery Company. James did not take up this appointment, as upon the outbreak of war he enlisted as a private in the Yorkshire Regiment, along with his two brothers. His abilities and qualities were soon recognised, and promotion came quickly. As a Company Sergeant Major he went with his battalion to France. When the men of his section experienced attacks of poison gas he was enabled, by his expert knowledge of chemistry, to protect them. He was mentioned in despatches in 1915, and received a commission on 22 November of that year. Shortly afterwards he was wounded. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1st July 1917 and appointed Adjutant on the death of Capt Sproxton on 20 July, and promoted to Acting Captain on 3 August 1917. Capt James Scott Bainbridge was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatch of 7 April 1918 for distinguished and gallant…
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Reginald Howes
Ruth Kendon came into the museum and told us the story of her father, Reginald Howes. Reginald Howes (1889-1977) attended the University of London Officer Training Corps (OTC) between 6 May 1915 and 20 July 1916 before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Yorkshire Regiment on 21 July 1916. He served with the 4th Battalion as temporary Adjutant and Intelligence Officer, and was wounded on 15 September 1916 at Kemmel, just south of Ypres. Ruth remembers him saying he was wounded on the day tanks were first used. Howes was awarded the Military Cross in March 1918, for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty” on the Somme, during the Kaiserschlacht offensive and promoted to Captain the following month. He was taken prisoner on 27 May 1918 and released on 14 December 1918. Ruth kindly donated a number of items which belonged to her father to the museum for safekeeping.
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Captain Thomas Ernest Dufty
Captain Thomas Ernest Dufty 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment Captain Dufty was born in on the 30th of June 1880. His father was Arthur Richard Sykes Dufty and his mother was called Katie. He was educated at Pocklington Grammar School. He joined the 5th Battalion in 1912 and became a lieutenant in June 1913. Prior to this his profession was as a banker and manager of the Bridlington branch of the London Joint Stock Bank. Dufty was promoted to Captain on the 18th of April 1915. He was reported as killed in action on or about the 19th of May 1915 (killed by a shell). His Battalion had been deployed to Sanctuary Wood (1.9 miles east of Ypres). He left a widow, Beatrice, and a 4-year-old son Arthur Richard. He is buried at the Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery in Belgium and commemorated at the Manor Road Cemetery Scarborough.