Thomas was born on 18th June 1888 to John George Yates and his wife Annie Maria. He was baptised at St Saviour's Brownhill on 7th March 1900 when they were living at Howden Clough. His father was a stone mason. In 1910 Thomas married Annie Elliott in Dewsbury District and in the 1911 census they were living at 11, Tick Hill St, Denaby Main, Rotherham - Thomas was working as a miner. At some point before his enlistment the family must have moved to Wakefield and I believe they had a daughter Violet born in 1916. The report in the Wakefield Express  stated that he was a 29 year old from Kirkhamgate and a miner at the Gawthorpe pit before enlisting in November 1914. It says he left behind a wife and child who received the following letter from an officer who knew him :- "We had a big attack on the 27th and your husband worked like a hero in getting in the wounded under heavy fire. Next day when standing by the Company Headquarters, he was killed instantly by a shell. I was standing quite close to him at the time. My grief is great when I think that your husband should have survived the awful time we had on the 27th, when he was under fire the whole day, and then to be killed by a chance shell the next day. His work whilst he has been with the Company as a stretcher bearer has been magnificent, and he was much beloved by the men. His death will be a great loss to me and the Battalion. Please accept my heartfelt sympathy at your great loss." Thomas' brother Stephen Frank Yates (enlisted under the name Frank Yates) also enlisted and served as Pte 8219 in the Scots Guard. He went to France in Oct 1914 but returned to Leeds to marry teacher Hilda Johnson before returning to France. He died in No 10 General Hospital in Rouen on 2nd November 1918.

Janet Wilsher