New Wombwell Soldiers identified

For some time I have been struggling to identify several of the men remembered on the St. Mary's war memorial. So far I have been able to identify 270 Of the 327 soldiers commemorated by using CWGC.org, Ancestery.com and also by using information provided by relatives. Of course it was always going to be difficult to find all the men, Wombwell being a mining town attracted people from all over the U.K. families would come from Durham, Stafford,Wales and Ireland to work in the pits. So they wouldn't have been living in Wombwell long enough to be on any census or have built any long standing ties to the area.

Over the past month I have begun visiting the Barnsley Archives and also started searching the war year issues of the Barnsley Chronicle. By doing this I have been able to locate more Wombwell soldiers. Men I can now positively confirm are on the Wombwell memorial include: John Blackledge, Norman Dale, J A Noble and Ernest Alfred walker.

John Blackledge  - Barnsley Chronicle June 9th 1917
Image with thanks to the Barnsley Archives

John Blackledge, a rifleman with the King's Royal Rifle corps was reported missing in March 1915, but he wasn't officially reported as being killed for over two years. His death was announced in the Barnsley Chronicle on June 2nd 1917. The long wait not knowing if he was dead or alive must have been an agonising time for his wife Alice and children, Jeannie and Willie. John has no known grave and is remembered on the Le Touret Memorial in France (as well as on the Wombwell war memorial.)

Ernest Alfred Walker - Barnsley Chronicle May 5th 1917
Image with thanks to the Barnsley Archives

Lance Corporal Ernest Walker was thirty three when he was killed on the first day of the Somme. At the time of his death he was serving with the 13th Battalion of the York and Lancaster regiment, which made up part of the Barnsley Pals. Although he was reported as missing on July 1st 1916 his death wasn't officially announced until April 1917. Before the war he worked at Mitchell Main colliery and had a wife named Harriet. He is remembered on the Thiepval memorial with all the other missing men of the Somme.

I have linked these new soldiers to their service details on CWGC.org. The list can be found here.