There is a War Memorial Plaque in Holy Trinity Church and a Village War Memorial on the hill overlooking the Church
Those who fell in WW1
ALDERSON, Joseph
Coxswain, MV Irene (registered in London), Mercantile Marine, sailor number 98150.
He was killed on Tuesday 9 November 1915 by the explosion of a mine 1.5 miles SE of Tongue Light Vessel which was stationed in the Thames Estuary. He was 40.
He was the husband of Sarah J Alderson.
He is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.
BESWICK, Henry
Pioneer, G Special Company, Royal Engineers. Army no 224934. This was one of the units who attacked using gas warfare.
He was killed in action on Thursday 21 March 1918 near Vaux Vracourt in the fighting known as the Kaisers Battle, the British lost 8,000 soldiers and 38,000 were injured or were captured. He was 26.
He was the son of Mary Jane and the late John Beswick.
He is remembered on the Arras Memorial.
CHILTON, James
Private, 16th (Service) Battalion (1st Bradford), The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), 93 Brigade, 31st Division. Army no 28145.
He died from his wounds on Thursday 14 June 1917 probably at the 8th Casualty Clearing Station which was in the village. He was 22.
He was the son of James and the late Mary Chilton, Railway Street, Leyburn.
He is buried in Duisans British Cemetery, Étrun near Arras.
DEIGHTON, William Truefitt
Corporal, 3rd Company, 23rd Divisional Train, Army Service Corps. Army no T2/14505.
He was killed in action on Friday 21 September 1917 repulsing a German attack on Tower Hamlets Ridge. He was 30.
He was the son of Thomas and Jane Ann Deighton, Leyburn.
He is buried in Reninghelst New Military Cemetery near Poperinge, Belgium and his headstone is inscribed In Loving Memory of Our Dear Brother Not Forgotten.
HOLMES, Frederick
Private, 1st/7th Battalion (TF), The Lancashire Fusiliers, 125 Brigade, 42nd Division. Army no 300131. He had previously served as Private, Army no 205037 with the Northumberland Fusiliers.
He was killed in action on Wednesday 21 August 1918 at the Battle of Albert. He was 29.
He was the son of Annie and the late Leonard Holmes, Ivy Cottage, Leyburn and the husband of Mary Holmes, 35 Durban Street, Scarborough.
He is buried in Queens Cemetery, Bucquoy.
KILDING, Alfred Craddock
Rifleman, 21st (Service) Battalion (Yeoman Rifles), The King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 124 Brigade, 41st Division. Army no C/12880.
He was killed in action on Sunday 17 September 1916 at the Battle of Flers Courcelette. He was 24.
He was the son of James and Mary Kilding.
He is buried in the Guards’ Cemetery, Lesboeufs.
His Probate records give his address as Preston under Scar, Leyburn and states that he died or between 15 and 17 September 1916 in France.
And his brother
KILDING, Henry
Private, 9th (Service) Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), 32 Brigade, 11th Division. Army no 36668.
He was killed in action on Monday 27 August 1917 in the fighting around St Julien during the Battle for Ypres. He was 31.
He was the son of James and Mary Kilding and the husband of Rose Kilding.
He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
LOFTUS, Frank Leslie
Corporal, 11th (Service) Battalion (2nd Hull), The East Yorkshire Regiment, 92 Brigade, 31st Division. Army no 17596.
He was killed in action on Thursday 3 May 1917 near Ypres. He was 21.
He was the son of Francis and Sarah M Loftus. Francis Loftus was the Head Master of Wensley School.
He is remembered on The Arras Memorial.
ORDE-POWLETT, William Percy
2nd Lieutenant, 1st/4th Battalion (TF), Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment), 150 Brigade, 50th Division.
He was killed in action on Monday 17 May 1915. He was 21.
He was the son of the Hon. William George Algar and Elizabeth Mary Orde-Powlett who became 5th Baron Bolton and Lady Bolton, Bolton Hall, Leyburn.
He is remembered on The Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.
SALMON, Alfred Ward
Private, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment). Army no 241698. He had previously served as Army no 4230 in the same Regiment. He was awarded the Silver War Badge and discharged from the Army as being no longer fit to be a soldier on 15 April 1918.
He died in Darlington in February 1919 from pneumonia having suffered from Bronchitis and general debility since his discharge (Dr A T Thompson 2 August 1921). He was 36.
He was the son of Annie Salmon, Darlington.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does not record his death or burial but I have found a reference to his Burial in Darlington West Cemetery.
SCOTT, Charles
Private, D Company, 9th (Service) Battalion, The King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry), 64 Brigade, 21st Division. Army no 42194. He had also served as Private, Army no 32/819 with the Northumberland Fusiliers.
He was killed in action on Thursday 4 October 1917 at the Battle of Broodseinde. He was 23.
He was the son of Robert and Mary A Scott, Post Office Yard, Preston-under-Scar, Leyburn.
He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
SCRIVENER, Harold William
Engine Room Artificer 4th Class, HMS Queen Mary. Royal Navy. RN no M/1502.
He died at sea on Active Service on Wednesday, 31 May 1916. He was 21.
He was the son of Frederick and Clara Blanche Scrivener, Bolton Gardens, Wensley
He is remembered on The Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Jutland was the largest naval battle of WW1 and the only time that the British and German fleets of ‘dreadnought’ battleships actually came to blows. It was a confused and bloody action involving 250 ships and around 100,000 men.
Initial encounters resulted in the loss of several ships. The Germans damaged Beatty’s flagship, HMS Lion, and sank HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary, both of which blew up when German shells hit their ammunition magazines.
The sinking of the Black Prince has remained a mystery but recently the story that has emerged has been generally accepted.
SMITH, William known as Willie MM
Corporal, 13th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Army no 45563.
He was killed in action on Wednesday 26 September 1917 in the fighting at Polygon Wood.
He was the son of Margaret Burnett (nee Smith) and the stepson of John Burnett, Preston under Scar.
He is buried in The Huts Cemetery, The Somme.
SPENCE, Edward
Gunner, 20th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Army no 65594.
He was killed in action on Friday 12 April 1918 near Bethune. He was 22.
He was the son of Simon and Hannah Spence, Wensley.
He is buried in Noeux-Les-Mines Communal Cemetery Extension and his headstone is inscribed Not gone from Memory or Love but to His Father’s Home above.
TEASDALE, John William
Private, 2nd Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment), 21 Brigade, 30th Division. Army no 3/9456.
He was killed in action on the Somme on Saturday 8 July 1916. He was 37.
Hewas the son of John and the late Ann Teasdale.
He is buried in London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval near Albert, France.
WARDMAN, Thomas Lawson MM
Private, 1st/7th Battalion (TF), The Lancashire Fusiliers, 125 Brigade, 42nd Division. Army no 300157. He had also served as Private, Army no 205033 with The Northumberland Fusiliers.
He was killed in action on Monday 25 March 1918 in the Battle of Bapaume. He was 20.
He was the son of Taylor and Eliza Wardman, Risborough Lane, Leyburn.
He is remembered on the Arras Memorial.
WILKINSON, Walter Edward
Private, 5th Battalion, The King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry), 187 Brigade, 62nd Division. Army no 39259. He also served as Private Army no 82332 with the Training Reserve Battalion
He was killed in action on Saturday 20 July 1918. He was 19
He was the son of Walter and Elizabeth Wilkinson, Grove Square, Leyburn
He is buried in Courmas British Cemetery and his headstone is inscribed He fought the Good Fight.
WILSON, Henry Robert known as Harry
Engine Room Artificer 5th Class, HMS Black Prince. Royal Navy. RN no M/3792.
He died at sea on Active Service on Wednesday 31 May 1916. He was 19
He was the son of Arthur Henry and Ada Wilson, Haremire, Wensley.
He is remembered on The Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Jutland was the largest naval battle of WW1 and the only time that the British and German fleets of ‘dreadnought’ battleships actually came to blows. It was a confused and bloody action involving 250 ships and around 100,000 men.
Initial encounters resulted in the loss of several ships. The Germans damaged Beatty’s flagship, HMS Lion, and sank HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary, both of which blew up when German shells hit their ammunition magazines.
The sinking of the Black Prince has remained a mystery but recently the story that has emerged has been generally accepted.
The German battleship Thüringen fixed Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including the battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from Black Prince being ineffective.
The ship was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones, sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors from her crew, all 857 being killed. But the German Navy remained in port for the rest of the war.
Transcription
The Village War Memorial, Wensley is on top of the hill overlooking the Church between Leyburn and Hawes is inscribed:
Ernest Brewer Victor Pearson
Gordon Goulton Alf Pearson
S Futter Charlie Plews
Frank Glew J Rawson
Metcalfe Greenwood Charlie Rawson
John Humble Walter Richardson
Willie Horn Humphrey Richardson
Ned Harker Fred Robinson
A Hutchinson Simon Spence
H Hutchinson James Spence
George Lees Edward Spence (killed)
Leslie Loftus (Killed) Howland Simpson
Frank Mason John Utting
Ernest Metcalfe George Willis
A Orde Powlett John Walker
P Orde Powlett (killed) Walter Walker
N Orde Powlett Dixon Walker
Robert Pearson George Walker
Fred Pearson Willie Walker
Edwin Pearson O Cooke Yarborough
Fred Pearson Willie Myers
John Pearson
“The Above-mentioned Men of Wensley Township Served in the Great War 1914 – 1918”
In the Holy Trinity Church, Wensley is a War Memorial Tablet mounted on a wooden backboard. The Names are in two columns.
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN HALLOWED MEM-
ORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO MADE THE SUPREME
SACRIFICE IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918
Alderson, Joseph Salmon, Alfred
Beswick, Henry Scrivener, Harold
Scott, Charles Smith, Willie
Chilton, James Spence, Edward
Deighton, William Teasdale, John
Holmes, Frederick Wardman, Thomas
Kilding, Alfred Wilkinson, Edward
Kilding, Henry Wilson, Harry
Powlett, Percy Orde
Also in The Church is a brass Memorial Plaque to men who died in the Battle of Jutland
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
IN MEMORY OF
HAROLD WILLIAM SCRIVENER
ROBERT HENRY WILSON
Most of text is illegible
And
Those who Served
Ernest Brewer
S Futter
Gordon Goulton
Frank Glew
Metcalfe Greenwood
Ned Harker
Willie Horn
John Humble
A Hutchinson
H Hutchinson
George Lees
Frank Mason
Ernest Metcalfe
Willie Myers
A Orde Powlett
N Orde Powlett
Alf Pearson
Edwin Pearson
Fred Pearson
Fred Pearson
John Pearson
Robert Pearson
Victor Pearson
Charlie Plews
J Rawson
Charlie Rawson
Humphrey Richardson
Walter Richardson
Alfred Howland Simpson
James Spence
Simon Spence
John Utting
George Willis
Dixon Walker
George Walker
John Walker
Walter Walker
Willie Walker
O Cooke Yarborough
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