​The War Memorial in Coverham
 
The Memorial Plaque in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Coverham, is inscribed as follows;-
 
1914 - 1918.
 
   In Grateful Remembrance of
   These Men Who Took Part
in the Great War
J A Barker                  G V Hammel              T Suttil
M Bell                         C Johnson                  D Suttil
R Bell                         H Lofthouse               W Tidyman
J Beswick                   W Marriner                 W J Walls
H Beswick                  J Mawer                     A Walls
Jas Beswick               G E Osborne              W Walls
T Binks                       R S Osborne              G Walls
H Binks                      P B Osborne              J Walls
J Binks                        C H Osborne              R Walls
G Binks                      H Read                       A Watson
W E Brown                 A Reeves                   T Watson
W Chapman               H Render                   M Watson
J Chapman                J W Simpson              W Watson
T Chapman                J E Simpson               W J Watson
H Chapman               G Spence                   G Wilson
A Connor                    J Spence                    C O Utley
R Connor                   M Stanley                   P Utley
C C Connor                H Stanley                   J Utley
J Dawson                   W T Stanley               Jms Utley
F T Dawson               A Swann                    E Utley
W Hammel                 S W Storey
 
By their sacrifice ….
A Thankful Village, was a phrase first used by Arthur Mee in his King's England series to describe a village which lost no men in the Great War because all those who left to serve came home again. The Parish of Coverham has been suggested as a possible Thankful Village but in St. Botolph’s Church at Horsehouse, there is a Prie-dieu with the inscription:
AMDG
In grateful and loving memory of
Private G W CLARKE
9th Yorks and Lancs Regiment
Killed in Action at Granezza, Italy
June 15 1918. Aged 24
“He that is faithful in that which is least
Is faithful also in much”
 
CLARKE, George William
Soldiers who Died identifies him as Private George William Clarke 235458 who died in Italy on that date. It says he was born in Horsehouse, lived in Middleham, and that he enlisted at Leyburn.  
His aunt was his next of Kin "Margaret E. Clarke of South View, Horsehouse, Middleham” according to The Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
In the Census returns for 1901 and 1911, there is no reference to his parents, just his widowed Grandmother and his single Aunt