P te. Thomas HIRST (1892 1916) ( King s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) I ntroduction: W ho is Thomas Hir and why did I art to research his background? It might have been e recent increase in intere regarding e centenary commemorations of e Fir World War but in reality it was someing closer to home. My moer Joan Walker passed away in A ugu 2016 at e grand age of 97. She had never spoken much about her family; but on going rough her papers I found various photographs and certificates. Based on my love of hiory I decided to research my family tree. One photograph intereed me in particular; t hat of two young men in uniforms of e Fir World War. Fortunately eir names were w ritten on e back. ( Thomas and Arur Hir. Thomas is anding) 1 o f 13
Who were ey and what happened in eir lives? I was to find it is easier to find i nformation about someone who died in e war an for someone who survived. As one r esearcher I contacted ated The fact at Arur survived e war dictated at he wouldn t have been part of t he BATLEY LADS research in fact it s a sad fact for researchers at ere is little r ecorded ab out ose who came home from e war. Sadly Thomas died on July 1 1916, e fir day of e battle of e Somme. This is e ory I have managed to piece togeer. I have tried to cover some of his early background as well as his military service. He was 24 when he died. I was ill at university when I was 24 doing a po graduate qualification. Somehow is really brought home to me e sadness of at p eriod of hiory. H is E arly Life: Thomas was born on May 7 1892 in Crackenedge and he was baptised at e B atley P rimitive Meodi Church on January 1 1893. Carr His parents were Henry and Clara Hir H enry and Clara had seven children; A lice (b. 1883) W illiam Henry FLORENCE S arah (b. ( From: We Yorkshire Non- c onformi Records) (b. 1886) ( b.1888) My maternal grandmoer. 1890) T HOMAS (b. 1892) M argaret Ellen (b.1895) A RTHUR (b. 1897) (Ne. Nicholson). Henry was a Flock Merchant. In total I n 1901 at e time of e census Thomas was eight living wi his parents at 5 Longlands Road. Staincliffe, Dewsbury. He was probably described as a scholar but I don t know what s chool he attended at is time. By e time of e next census (1911) he was 18, ill single and living wi his widowed m oer at 18 Gaorne Avenue L eeds. His faer Henry had died in 1904. His occupation at is time was described as a clerk in a wholesale grocers. Arur was 14 and working as a t rimmer in a wholesale cloiers. I n e interim Thomas attended B atley G rammar School. 2 o f 13
H is Working Life: D etails are s parse. T he 1911 census described Thomas as a clerk to a wholesale grocer. Later he worked as warehouseman for Mr Harry Carter, a rag merchant of Batley Carr. Was is how he met Elsie e girl he was to marry and was e said Ha rry Carter a witness at his w edding?. I n 1915 e regiration of his marriage described him as a Rag auctioneers clerk - possibly f or Messrs Eawood and Nephew of Dewsbury. H is Place of Worship: T homas worshiped at e B atley C arr h e met his future wife here. P rimitive M eodi Church. It was also possible at K ing Street Batley Carr The f ollowing map shows K ing Street and e location of e Primitive Meodi Chapel on Upper Road Batley Carr. Mo of e area was demolished and cleared and looks quite d ifferent today. 3 o f 13
H is Marriage to Elsie Lumb: Thomas married Elsie Lumb on e 8 May 1915 at e Primitive Meodi Chapel on Upper road Batley Carr. (Picture of Chapel below) Thomas was 23 years old, a rag a uctioneer s clerk, living at 7 Hope Street Dewsbury. Elsie was 22 years old, a forewoman in a rag warehouse, l iving at 11 King Street Batley Carr. Intereing e wedding was witnessed by Elsie s faer Erne, a coal miner and Harry Carter. Was is e Harry Carter Thomas w orked for. H ow did ey meet and fall in love? We will never know; perhaps rough worship at e Primitive Meodi Chapel. Or rough work as ey bo worked in e rag business. Or t hrough proximity as Elsie lived on K ing Street and Harry Carter s business was on King S treet. (Photogra ph of K ing Street above. ) What is really sad is at Elsie died e same year ey were married, on e 28 October1915. They could have only been togeer for a few mons, six in fact. What mu t his have done to Thomas? Was is e reason he enlied in November of at year? On a brighter note my moer s sier Elsie was born in 1916 and it is said at she was named after Thomas s Elsie. Furer research has shown at Elsie died from Tuberculosis having s uffered from e illness for four mons. She mu have developed it shortly after m arrying. 4 o f 13
B atley C arr Primitive T homas M ilitary Service: Was it because of e early p robably never know. M eodis t Church - s adly now demolished dea of his wife at Thomas decided to enli? We will What we do know is at he enlied in November 1915; joining e 9 K ings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was a private and a signaller. Battalion of e H e disembarked in F rance in May of 1916. We know little else of his military service except it is said he was killed by a shell on e 1 J uly 1916. 5 o f 13
However e following extracts taken from e 9 w hat happened. Z ero hour was 7.30 am Battalion War Diary may give a flavour of T hey were followed by each successive wave of 1 minute s interval. When e leading platoon had crawled forward about 25 yards into NO MAN S LAND ey were greeted by a hail of machine gun and rifle fire; e enemy in spite of our barrage brought his machine guns out of his dugouts and placing em on top of his parapet opened r apid fir. A and C companies suffered chiefly under is; while B and D companies endured chiefly a heavy artillery barrage. When e leading troops were close enough e enemy also employed cylindrical ick bombs. The battalion suffered heavily in NO M AN S LAND In spite of heavy losses e battalion carried e front line It was during e fir age more especially in NO MAN S LAND at e battalion s uffered mo T he diary gives details of officers and also records casualties in oer ranks numbered 475 of whi ch about 145 were killed Perhaps Thomas was a member of B or D Company and died as a result of e heavy artillery b arrage. Hopefully he didn t suffer any pain. N ews of Thomas s dea: I t is difficult to know how his family found out about his dea. I found e following cutting i n a book owned by my grandmoer, Thomas s sier F lorence. The body of a Batley Carr man killed by shell fire was never recovered. One of his officers w rote about 24 year old Tom Hir, KOYLI, in a letter to his family: He died e fine d ea a man can die What grief e family mu have suffered. The newspapers also covered e ory, firly u ncertainty and en confirmation. A difficult period for e family. Batley News - July 21 1916 Signaller Tom Hir, son of e late Mr Henry Hir, of Batley Carr, an old boy of Batley g rammar School, and a former employee of Mr Harry Carter, rag merchant, Batley Carr, is believed to have been killed by a shell on July 1. His body has not been recovered. He w as 24 years of age, a widower, and his widowed moer lives in L eeds. 6 o f 13
B atley News July 9 1916 A Batley Carr Clerk News of his dea on July 1 E nlied on e dea of his young wife Private Tom Hir, a well- known Batley Carr soldier, who has been missing since July 1 is o fficially announced a having lo his life on at date. Private Hir married a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Erne lumb, K ing Street, Batley, and he e nlied la November on e dea of his wife. He went to e front in May. Private Hir was 24 years old, and was formerly employed as clerk by Messrs. Eawood a nd Nephew of Dewsbury. Previously he was a warehouseman for Mr H Carter, rag m erchant, Dewsbury. He was a member of B atley C arr P rimitive M eodi C hurch. H is moer lives in H arehills Lane, L eeds. s t, Batley Reporter September 1 1916 W ELL KNOWN BATLEY C ARR YOUNG MAN KILLED. T HE FATE OF SIGNALLER HIRST After some weeks of anxiety, e wor news has come to hand for e relatives concerning e fate of signaller Tom Hir (24). KOYLI, son of e late Mr Henry Hir, B atley Carr, and of Mrs Hir, now o f 224 Harehills Lane Leeds. Capt. Spicer, Adjutant of e company to which Signaller Hir was attached, writes: I regret to inform you at after e assault on July 1, in which is battalion took part, y our son, Pte. T. Hir, was reported missing, and no furer information about him has been received. I have made inquiries, but wiout result. I am afraid at, like many anoer gallant fellow, he mu have been killed by a shell, and his body never afterwards d iscovered. You have my sincere sympay wi you in your loss. I too lo many brave friends on at day, but at lea we have e consolation of knowing t ey died e f ine dea a man can die, and at ey gave eir lives in a successful effort. A letter has been received from Sapper E. Plummer of e Royal Engineers, a friend of t he late Pte. Hir, to e effect at he is making furer inquiries. Signaller Hir was a very well- known and highly respected Batley Carr young man. He was married but lo his wife la year. At one time he was engaged wi Mr Harry Carter, rag merchant as foremen warehouseman. He was an old boy of e Batley Grammar S chool. 7 o f 13
C ommemorating e dea of Thomas: T his proved to be an intereing inveigation as you will Thomas s faer Henry died in 1904 and was buried in Dewsbury Cemetery. The family a dded details of Thomas s dea to e grave one. Also of Thomas e beloved son of Clara and e late Henry Hir killed in action July 1 1916. He did his duty see. Thomas body M emorial. was never found so he is one of e many remembered on e Thiepval 8 o f 13
T his is where it gets intereing. D ewsbury War memorial: T homas is recorded on e war memorial; and in e Dewsbury Roll of Honour e f ollowing details appear. D ewsbury Cenotaph in Crow Ne Park D ewsbury Roll of Honour D ewsbury Central Library T homas Hir W illans House Willans PTE 26530 11 K OYLI M issing Somme 1.7.16. Road Dewsbury 9 o f 13
I n a recent article in e Dewsbury Reporter T errible toll of e Somme W WI battle killed 190 of Dewsbury s soldiers. The battle arted on July 1 1916 and during e four mons it laed 190 men f rom Dewsbury died 41 of em had been killed on e fir day, including T homas Hir C lara Hir. B atley War Me morial: of Willans House Willans Road Dewsbury T homas Hir 1. 7. 1916 KOYLI (18?) son of Henry and P roject BUGLE: T homas is also mentioned in e July monly newsletter e Bugle - prepared by The B atley and Birall Fir World War Commemorative Project 10 o f 13
S o Thomas was recorded on bo memorials. P erhaps it was e boundary of Dewsbury and Batley running rough e middle of Batley C arr. P opular in life p opular in dea. T he following medals would have been sent to his family at e end of e war F rom e meda l record: T homas s moer received a war pension 11 o f 13
C onclusion: Was it fate at treated two young couples in such a diinct manner? On e one hand T homas married Elsie i n 1915 a s a result of developing tuberculosis Elsie dies in 1915 and Thomas dies e next year (1916) at e front on e fir day of e battle of e Somme. On e oer hand Arur who was only 17 at e beginning of e war survives and m arries a nd from e look of e photograph below has a happy life. As an aei I find e concept of an afterlife difficult but in my heart I hope at Thomas f ound Elsie again and had some of e happiness ey were deprived of in life. P oscript: A rur Hir M r and Mrs Arur Hir I t has in fact proved difficult to find anying about Arur was born in 1897 in Batley. w as also 39. Thomas was 8. Arur. At at time his faer Henry was 39 and his moer At e time of 1901 census Arur s family were living at 5 Longlands Road, Staincliffe, Dewsbury. Arur was 4. His faer was described as a flock and wool merchant. Thomas w as 8. My Grandmoer, his sier Florence, was 13. Clara 10 years later at e next census in 1911, Arur was 14 and working as a trimmer in a wholesale cloiers. The family were living at 18 Gaorne Avenue Rounday Road Leeds. Sadly his faer Henry had died in 1904; his moer Clara was now 48. Thomas was 18 and s till single, working as clerk in a wholesale grocers. Florence was now 23, single, and working as an assiant teacher. Wi e loss of eir faer all e grown children were working to b ring money into e family. 12 o f 13
I haven t been able to find anying on his war record; however, I did find e po card b elow in my moer s papers. On e back it says T o William? From Uncle Arur Un fortunately e ink is fading. What I was pleased to find; w i e photograph above, was a copy of Arur s wedding regiration. On his return from e war on April 29 1919 Arur married Ivy Gray at e P arish Ch urch Dewsbury. Arur was now 22 and working as a tailor s cutter and ill living in Leeds. Ivy was also 22, a spiner from Dewsbury. The wedding was witnessed by Arur s m oer Clara and Ivy s faer Joseph. For n ow, t hat is e end of e ory b ut R esearc her: Stephen Walker m aternal grandson of Florence Hir who was an older sier o f Thomas and Alfred Hir. - a copy was presented to Project BUGLE in January 2017 13 o f 13