Naburn Parish Dead of the Great War 1914 - 1918

George BAILEY

Further information is sought on George Bailey.

Leonard CROFT

Son of George and Hannah Croft, of Naburn, York. Gunner, Royal Garrison Artillery; 152nd Siege Battery. Died 27 November 1918 aged 24. Buried or memorialised: Tourcoing Cemetery, Pont-Neuville, France.

Alfred William HOPE

Lance Corporal, 6th Bn. Yorkshire Regiment ‘The Green Howards’. Died 10th October 1917 serving with 32 Bridge, 11th Division, during the Third Battle of Ypres, during the attack on Poelcappelle (see Pte Dixon’s account of this action, written by Simon Wheeler of Riccall) aged 31. No known grave. Commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

Charles Agar HOPE

Son of Henry and Sarah Ann Hope of Naburn Lock, York. Rifleman, 21st Bn, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Died 17 September 1916 aged 24 in the Battle of Fleurs Courcelette, on the Somme. This was the first ever attack with tanks. The 21st (Service) Bn. (the Yeoman Rifles) was founded in September 1915 from volunteers from the farming communities of Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham. “Ever remembered by friends at Naburn near York England” Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs. Somme, France.

James William LIGHTFOOT

Husband of Charlotte Gray (formerly Lightfoot, nee Nash) of Naburn. Private, 14th Bn. East Yorkshire Regiment. Died 19th May 1919 aged 27. Buried in St. Matthew’s Churchyard, Naburn.

Alvara LOFTHOUSE

Son of Thomas and Elizabeth Lofthouse of Naburn, York; brother of George Wesley Lofthouse, Mary Ann Shortland (Lofthouse), Hannah Lofthouse, Thomas Lofthouse, Andrew Lofthouse, Betty Lofthouse and Ellinor Lofthouse. Private 1st / 1st East Riding Yeomanry. Died 4th May 1917 aged 25. Part of 22 Mounted Brigade, during the Battle of Gaza. The East Riding Yeomanry (ERY) was a cavalry regiment originally set up after the Boer War (1899-1902) to address the shortage of good quality mounted troops in the British Army. Yeomanry were volunteer cavalry units. The term ‘yeoman’ originally meant a moderately well-off independent farmer. The ERY had four squadrons, based at Hull, Beverley, York and Bridlington. Believed to be cousin of Charles Alvara Lofthouse of Escrick, forester to Lord Wenlock, who served in the same regiment, and who died when the ship he was on - HMT "Arcadian" - was sunk by a submarine in the Aegean on 15th April 1917 and Charles was one of 19 ERY men drowned. “A beautiful memory left behind” Deir el Belah War Cemetery, Israel & Palestine.

Francis Irvine LOFTHOUSE

Son of Mary Ann Lofthouse of Lilac Cottage, Naburn, York and the late George Lofthouse. Stoker, 2nd class Royal Navy HMS Bulwark. Died 26th November 1914 aged 19. Francis Lofthouse was serving aboard the battleship HMS Bulwark, part of the Channel Fleet carrying out patrols of the English Channel under her commander, Captain Guy Sclater. When anchored near Sheerness the ship destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 736 men. There were only 14 survivors of the explosion and of these 2 later died in hospital. HMS Bulwark had in 1908 been commanded by Captain Robert Scott, ‘Scott of the Antarctic’. Buried at sea and commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Guy Nicholas PALMES

Son of Rev. George and Eva Blanche Palmes, Naburn Hall, York. Lieutenant, 1st Bn. Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Died 9th May 1915 aged 21. 'He was killed in action near Ypres whilst rallying his men in a charge against the Prussian Guard. ' (Malvernian, Jun 1915). 'He was wounded on May 8th round Zonnebeke. It took three wounds to finish him. He came out with us and was a very nice gentleman. I saw him wounded the first time, but he kept going and was going about with a bayonet in one hand and a revolver in the other. It was the case of every man for himself, and we had to get back to keep the line straight. He got finished on the way and his servant was wounded trying to save him. The stretcher bearers sent in the news of his death. A man of my Coy, Pte Storey, who has been killed since saw him dead and told us.' (Ref Lance Corporal Dexter, No 14 Clearing Hospital, July 23rd 1915, Boulogne). Unit war diary extract: 'Friezenberg. 8th May 1915. Trenches heavily shelled with high explosive; this was followed by a ferocious attack. C & D Companies were shelled out of their trenches. A & B drove off ferocious attack and withdrew from trenches at night. Casualties. Killed Captain H K Hughes, Captain K Lambert, Lieut Palmes and 53 Other Ranks.' No known grave. Commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium.

Joan Mary Georgina PALMES

Daughter of Guy St Maur Palmes and Georgina Rosabelle Palmes of Naburn Hall. Orderly, Women's Hospital Corps, Endell Street Military Hospital. Died February 1919 aged 27.

Extract from ‘Women as Army Surgeons’ By Flora Murray CBE MD DPH: “In February 1919, Miss Joan Palmes succumbed to influenza and pneumonia, her death casting a sad gloom over the hospital. Although, for family reasons, her service had not been continuous, she had been a member of the staff since 1915. She had a most endearing personality, gay and courageous and considerate for others.” Endell Street Military Hospital was a military hospital located on Endell Street in Covent Garden, London. This was a military hospital set up and staffed entirely by suffragists. The hospital was established in May 1915 by Dr Flora Murray and Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson (daughter of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and niece of Millicent Fawcett).

James William TASKER

Son of Thomas Hodgson Tasker and Hannah Maria Tasker of East Cowick , Snaith, Goole, Yorks. Husband of Rose Hannah Benson (formerly Tasker) of Naburn, York. Private 13 Bn. York & Lancaster Regiment (‘The Barnsley Pals’). Died 12 April 1918 aged 34, killed in the Battle of the Lys (Hazebrouck) in the German offensive of Spring 1918. No known grave. Commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial.

Charles Hugh Tempest WHITEHEAD

Son of the late George and Mary Jane Whitehead of Deighton Grove, York. Major, 56th Punjabi Rifles, formerly of the Highland Light Infantry. Died at the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915, aged 34. Born in Scarborough on 26th October 1880, the 7th son of George and Mary Jane (née Baines), of Deighton Grove, York, Charles was one of 14 children: 8 boys and 6 girls. Three of his brothers were at Charterhouse: George Talbot (1st son, 1870 - 1950; [G] 1884 - 1889) saw no military service, Lionel Digby (5th son, 1877 - 1938; [G] 1891 - 1895) served in the Great War as a Captain in the Monmouthshire Regt., and Alan Octavius (youngest son, 1882 1964; [G] 1897 - 1900) as a Lieutenant in 3rd Bn. Grenadier Guards.

Charles Hugh joined the Highland Light Infantry (Militia) in August 1900 and was gazetted on 5th January 1901. He served in the South African Campaign, transferring to the Indian Army in 1904. In India, alongside his military duties, he pursued a keen interest in ornithology. He wrote On the Birds of Kohat and Kurram, Northern India (1909). A sub-species of the plain backed thrush Zoothera mollissima is named after him: Zoothera mollissima whiteheadi (see picture, left).On 21st October 1914 he was appointed acting Major 10th Highland L.I. In May 1915, he was sent to France, where he served until his death.The Whitehead Memorial Scholarship at Charterhouse School was founded in his memory. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial, France.

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