George Braithwaite, 24928, West Yorkshire Regiment

George Braithwaite was born in 1890 in Dacre Banks, Harrogate, Yorkshire.

He was killed in action on August 27th 1917.

He was the 6th child of the 9 children of Robinson and Elizabeth Braithwaite. George was an apprentice tailor to Sam Houseman who had a drapery shop in Dacre. Later he worked for John Barran & Sons Ltd of Leeds.

In early 1916 George was called up and joined the 3rd West Yorkshire Regiment in the infantry. He completed 8 weeks of training at Marden Camp, Whitley Bay. On 8th July 1916 George sailed from Folkestone to France and by 14th July he was expecting to go to the trenches sometime in the next week. He went up the line on 23rd July. By 22nd August he was in hospital having been taken to 6 Casualty Clearing Station. Later he was moved to No 8 British Red Cross Hospital and eventually to a convalescent camp.

 On 15th September George was with the 1st West Yorkshire Regiment at their base in France. From 25th September to 28th October George seemed to have been in and out of the trenches and on 29th he came out of the fighting for a rest but he was back in the trenches by 14th November. Then he was in the trenches for most of the next 6 weeks, only coming out for a day or 2 at a time. He was in the trenches on Christmas Day.

 George was then ill for 3 weeks in the trenches with diarrhoea; eventually he was carried out on a stretcher and taken to hospital with dysentery. He was very ill and on 7th February 1917 he was brought back to Britain and taken to Paisley Hospital, Scotland.  By 16th February 1917 George was getting up in the afternoons and he now had a good appetite. After this George moved to Fulford Barracks, York but he expected to be moved to Eastbourne for convalescence. He arrived in Eastbourne on 20th March. He had to wear a yellow ribbon on his shoulder to show that he was classed as “C3 of fitness” On 15th April George was still in Eastbourne but back in training and the food ration had been lowered. On 5th May he expected to be sent back to France soon. They thought the war would be over by August!

On 24th June George was back in France with the 3rd West Yorkshires. On 7th July he went up the line. On 15th July he wrote that he was still safe and well. By 26th July he had just received 2 parcels.

On 29th July George sent his last letter home. He hadn’t had a letter from home for 3 weeks. He said he was still safe and well and in good spirits. On 15th August he sent a field card saying he had received a letter and a parcel. On 25th August he sent another card to say he had received a letter and a parcel that day. He was now with 9th West Yorkshires. From 18th to 25th August the 9th Bn West Yorkshire were practising the attack for the forthcoming operations. On the 26th they marched off to take over a portion of the front line, NE of St Julien and E of the Steenbeek. The 32nd Brigade, to which the 9th West Yorkshires belonged, had been ordered to attack and capture the Pheasant Trench Line. Lieut-Colonel F. P. Worsley was commanding the 9th West Yorkshires. The intention was to capture and hold the line with the first wave and establish a line of posts with the second wave. George was in “A” Company and so he was in the second wave.At 1.55pm on the 27th August a heavy shrapnel barrage was put down on the enemy’s trenches. Under this barrage the attacking battalions left their trenches and began their advance. The most appalling conditions met the men as they tried to cross No Man’s Land. It was raining heavily and in many places the ground was impassable. Mud and great gaping shell-holes, in many places full of water, made it impossible to advance.At 1.58pm the Battalion Diary states that the enemy’s barrage fell on the Langemarke-Winnipeg road. From Pheasant Trench and several pill-boxes heavy machine-gun and rifle fire swept the West Yorkshiremen and the advance was check. When the barrage was lifted an attempt was made to occupy the enemy’s trenches but by this time few men remained and those who entered the trenches were unable to stay there. One house at Vieilles Maisons  was captured and a line of posts was formed east of Bulow Farm. On the 28th the line of posts was consolidated and the whole of Vieilles Maisons passed into the hands of the West Yorkshiremen without opposition. George was killed soon after he had gone over the top with his friend Pte R G Horsman. His body was never identified so he has no known grave. His family did not know what had happened to him so by October they were in touch with the Red Cross. On 14th November they received a letter from the Red Cross outlining what Horsman had said. Then Evelyn Townsend, George’s girlfriend, wrote to Horsman to get more details and he wrote to her explaining that there was no chance that he was still alive but neither Evelyn nor the family gave up hope until the end of the war. On 11th November 1918 Willie, his youngest brother wrote home saying that all the prisoners of war were being released and he was sure that George would come marching home soon even though Horsman had told them that the Germans didn’t take any prisoners that day.    

Richard Whitfield