Frank was the son of William Riseley, blacksmith, and his wife Annie. Frank was born on 4 January 1895. He had two sisters, May and Kate, and two brothers, Kay and Henry. Frank enlisted in the 1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment, ‘A’ Company, at St Neots in January 1916. His younger brother, Henry, enlisted in the 9th Suffolks in March 1916 and his older brother, Kay, was called up into the Royal Engineers in March 1917.

 

Frank enlisted on the same day as two other Eltisley boys, Alick Childerley and Sidney George Hayden. The three had known each other all their lives. Frank and Sidney George had been born in Eltisley, on the same day, and Alick three months later. Frank lived in a cottage on one corner of the village green, and Sidney George and Alick lived along two sides of the Green. From the timing of their enlistment, it appears that the three were volunteers under the Derby Scheme, before conscription was introduced.

 

Both Frank and his friend Alick Childerley were among those wounded in one of the Cambridgeshire’s actions to take the Schwaben Redoubt in October and November 1916.  On 17th November 1916, the local newspaper, the St Neots Advertiser, reported that Private Frank Riseley had been wounded and was in hospital in England, and that his friend Private Alick Childerley had also been wounded and was in hospital in France.

 

Frank’s wounds were severe; he was not returned to fighting duty until four months later. On 23rd  March 1917 the St Neots Advertiser reported that Frank had been discharged from hospital and had been home on leave for ten days, returning to his regiment at Brighton earlier that week. Alick was not to return to the front; his injuries (shrapnel wounds to his head) were such that he was discharged from the Army in February 1917.

 

It is not known exactly when Frank returned to France; however, later that year, on 2nd November 1917, the St Neots Advertiser printed the following report:

Eltisley Soldier Missing – two Eltisley soldiers are, we learn with much regret, reported missing.  One is Pte. Frank Riseley, who had only just returned to the Front after being wounded, and was missing after his first action.  He belongs to the Cambs. Regt.  Mr and Mrs Riseley would be glad of information concerning him from anyone who may have been with him on September 26th.  Corpl. Jas. Paine is reported wounded and missing.  He was expected home on leave when the sad news arrived.  Much sympathy is felt for the relatives in their anxiety.

 

Frank was killed during what is known as The Third Battle of Ypres, which had started on 31st July.   The Battalion War Diary for 26th September says that at 3.00am that morning all the men were given a water bottle filled with hot tea.  At 5.50am the covering barrage opened and the advance commenced, ‘A’ Company (which Frank was in) having no difficulty keeping up to the barrage, but ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies having great difficulty crossing the bog, many men becoming stuck in the mud.  ‘A’ Company, on the left of the advance, was involved in attacking the Eastern face of Joist Redoubt, where the most severe fighting took place; Captain Ford commanding them was severely wounded but continued to direct his Command until he was killed.  The War Diary goes on to say: “7.00am ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies were holding the western face of Joist Redoubt with elements of ‘A’ Company (without any officers) still holding on to a line of shell holes on the western side of the southern end of Tower Trench.  The situation remained unchanged throughout the day except for local efforts on the part of sections to improve their position and kill bosches.  Many bosches were killed by our snipers and Lewis Gunners.  Reports were received from all Companies except ‘A’ Company.  All efforts to discover the exact position of ‘A’ Company failed.”

 

On 12th July 1918 the St Neots Advertiser reported that Frank’s father had received a letter:

Sir,

It is my painful duty to inform you that no further news having been received relative to your son, Frank Riseley, Cambs. Regt, who has been missing since September 26th 1917, the Army Council have been regretfully constrained to conclude that he is dead, and that his death took place on that day.

Your obedient servant,

R W Kenam, Captain

 

Frank has no known grave.  He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing at Zonnebeke, near Ypres.  On the 9th August 1916, Frank had written his Will in his Army Pay Book, where, on page 13, space is allowed for a soldier to write his own wishes in the event of his death.  Frank wrote ‘In the event of my death I give the whole of my property and effects to my mother.’

 

 

Mary Flinders