They Gave Their Today
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​War Memorial in Crakehall    
 
The War Memorial outside St Gregory's Church is dedicated:
 
"IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY OF THE MEN FROM THIS PARISH WHO GAVE
THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM'S CAUSE IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918."
 
THOMAS HODGSON                        ARTHUR MORTON
JOHN RBT LEAKE                             CHARLES REYNOLDS
FRANK LOCKEY                               WILLIAM RYDER
JOHN LODGE                                    JAMES STELLING
JOSEPH MAWSON                           LUPTON STELLING
HENRY METCALF                             JOHN WM THOMPSON
 
"SONS OF THIS PLACE LET THIS OF YOU BE SAID
THAT YOU WHO LIVE ARE WORTHY OF THE DEAD.
THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES THAT YOU WHO LIVE MAY REAP
A RICHER HARVEST ERE YOU FALL ASLEEP."
 
on a brass plaque in the Church:
 
TO THE HONOURED MEMORY
OF
PRIVATE THOMAS HODGSON
LEADING STOKER JOHN RBT LEAKE
PRIVATE FRANK LOCKEY
LANCE CORPORAL JOHN LODGE
SIGNALLER JOSEPH MAWSON
QUARTERMASTER SERGEANT HENRY METCALF
PRIVATE ARTHUR MORTON
PRIVATE CHARLES REYNOLDS
PRIVATE WILLIAM RYDER
PRIVATE JAMES STELLING
PRIVATE LUPTON STELLING
PRIVATE JOHN THOMPSON
WHOSE LIVES WERE GIVEN FOR THEIR COUNTRY
1914 -1918
THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVER MORE
REQUIESCANT IN PACE
 
and a dedication on the Memorial to:
 
SECOND WORLD WAR
1939 -1944
DIED IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY
FRANK ACKROYD
HAROLD BARLOW
STEPHEN HENRY DAVIES
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH
ROBERT H HUDSON DFM
 
 
 
 
 
Those who Fell in WW1
 
HODGSON, Thomas James Allen
Private, 3rd Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment).  Army no 27756.
He died on Saturday 8 April 1916 at the V A (Voluntary Aid) Hospital, West Hartlepool. He was 24.
He was the son of John and Eden Hodgson, Stalling Busk.
He is buried in the Churchyard of St. Matthew’s Church, Stalling Busk and his headstone is inscribed Thy will be done.
 
LEAKE, John Robert
Leading Stoker, HMS/M D-5, Royal Navy. RN no. 304084.
He died at sea on active service on Tuesday 3 November 1914. He was 30.
He was the son of Jane E Leake, East Witton and the late John Leake.
He is remembered on The Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Additional information
D-5 was the first submarine of her class to be lost. She was mined off Yarmouth on 3 November 1914. She was lying off Gorleston when news of the German bombardment of Yarmouth was received and three submarines were ordered to intercept the German ships off Terschelling.  Shortly after getting underway, D-5 was mined struck a mine aft and sank quickly, leaving just her Captain and four others to be rescued by the trawler Faithful.
 
LOCKEY, Frank 
Private, 12th/13th Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers, 62 Brigade, 21st Division.  Army no 5860.
He was killed in action on Thursday 18 April 1918 at the first Battle of Kemmel Ridge. He was 33.
He was the son of Robert and Mary Lockey, Crakehall.
He is buried in Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.
 
LODGE, John
Lance Corporal, 4th Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment), 150 Brigade, 50th Division.  Army no. 28123
He was killed in action on 26 March 1918 in the Battle of Rosières. He was 32.
He was the son of William and Jane Lodge, Flood Bridge Farm, Bedale and the husband of Alice Lodge, Crakehall.
He is buried in Ham British Cemetery, Muille-Villette.
 
MAWSON, Joseph 
Private, 1st/5th Battalion TF, The Durham Light Infantry, 150 Brigade, 50th Division. Army no 203024.
He was killed in action on Friday 29 March 1918 on the Somme Battlefields. He was 29.
He was the son of Nichol and Jane Mawson, Crakehall and the husband of Helena M Mawson, 18 Keswick Street, West Hartlepool.
He is remembered on The Pozières Memorial.
 
METCALFE, John Henry not Metcalf as it appears on the Memorial
Company Sergeant Major, 6th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment), 32 Brigade, 11th Division.  Army no 384736.
He was killed in action on 21 August 1915 in the Battle of Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli. He was 32.
He was the son of the late John Metcalfe, Bedale and the husband of Emma Metcalfe, 6 West Powlett Street, Darlington.
He is remembered on The Helles Memorial.
Additional information
He had also served in the Coldstream Guards in the South African campaign.
 
MORTON, Arthur 
Private, 717th Mechanical Transport Company, Army Service Corps. Army no. M2/188074.
He died from his wounds on Sunday 22 July 1917 in Belgium. He was 30.
He was the son of Robinson and Mary A Morton, Crakehall and the husband of Edith M Morton, Swinton.
He is buried in Coxyde Military Cemetery and his headstone is inscribed Greater love hath no man than this. RIP.”
 
REYNOLDS, Charles Edgerton
Private, 12th (Service) Battalion, (Tees-side Pioneers), Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment), Pioneer Battalion, 40th Division.  Army no 235261.
He was killed in action on 11 April 1918 at the Battle of Estaires. He was 20.
He was the son of Robert H and Laura Reynolds, Langthorne, Bedale.
He is remembered on The Ploegsteert Memorial.
 
RYDER, William Thomas
Trimmer, HMS Attentive III, Royal Navy. RNVR no 6937/TS.
He died whilst on active service on Tuesday 6 November 1917. He was 27.
He was the son of James Ryder and the husband of Sarah J Thompson (formerly Ryder), 36 Mitre Street, Stockton on Tees. He was born at Crakehall.
He is buried in Oxbridge Lane Cemetery, Stockton-On-Tees.
Additional information
HMS Attentive III was an armed Patrol ship at Dover but he did not die at sea according to the Ship’s Log.  He probably died of natural causes.
 
STELLING, James
Private, 19th (Service) Battalion (2nd Public Works Pioneers) The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment), Pioneer Battalion, 41st Division. Army no G/63195. He had also served as Private, Army no 35710 with The South Staffordshire Regiment.    
He died from his wounds on Sunday 1 September 1918. He was probably in a Casualty Clearing Station in Daours. He was 25.
He was the son of Lupton and Martha E Stelling, Station House, Crakehall.
He is buried in Daours Communal Cemetery Extension.
and his younger brother
STELLING, Lupton
Private, 7th (Service) Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment, 51 Brigade, 17th Division. Army no 44188. He had also served as Private, Army no 22798 with Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment).
He was killed in action on 27 August 1918 in the battlefields of the Somme. He was 21.
He was the son of Lupton and Martha E Stelling, Station House, Crakehall.
He is buried in Fienvillers British Cemetery, Somme.
 
THOMPSON, John William Jackson
Private, 8th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment), 69 Brigade, 23rd Division.  Army no 24470.
He was killed in action on 10 July 1916 during the capture of Contalmaison. He was 20.
He was the son of Mr and Mrs J Thompson, Little Crakehall.
He is remembered on The Thiepval Memorial.
 
 
The Fallen in WW1 who do not appear on the Memorial
 
BOSTLE, Thomas 
Private, 1st Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers, 9 Brigade, 3rd Division.  Army no 263.
He was killed in action on Tuesday 17 November 1914 in the first Battle of Ypres. He was 28.
He was the husband of Ada S Bostle, School House, Crakehall.
He is remembered on The Menin Gate Memorial Ypres.
 
COSTELLO, James 
Private, 1st/9th Battalion TF, The Durham Light Infantry, 9 Brigade, 3rd Division. Army no 9/3163.
He died from his wounds on Sunday 17 September 1916 in the Battle of the Aisne. He was 28.
He was the son of John and Mary Costello, Whickham, Co. Durham and the husband of Mary J Costello, King's Cottage, Crakehall.
He is buried in Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt l’Abbe and his headstone is inscribed Thy will be done, may his soul rest in peace.
 
MILLER, Robert 
Private, 2nd Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment), 21st Brigade, 30th Division.  Army no 30684.
He was killed in action on Monday 9 April 1917 in the first Battle of the Scarpe. He was 36.
He was the husband of Ethel Miller, Little Crakehall.
He is buried in Neuville-Vitasse Road Cemetery near Arras
 
 
Those who Fell in WW2
 
ACKROYD, Francis Edward known as Frank
Chief Officer, MV Pelayo (Liverpool), Merchant Navy.
He died at sea on Monday 15 June 1942. He was 28.
He was the son of Maurice and Maud Ackroyd and the husband of Ruth Ackroyd, Greasby, Cheshire.
He is remembered on The Tower Hill Memorial.
Additional information
MV Pelayo, a Cargo Ship built in 1927 was en route from Gibraltar to Swansea when, on 15 June 1942, carrying 755 tons of and iron she was torpedoed by the German Submarine U-552 and sunk. 16 of the 47 crew were lost.
 
BARLOW, Harold
Ordinary Seaman, HMS Prince of Wales, Royal Navy.  RN no P/JX 243001
He died on active service on Saturday 24 May 1941. He was 28
He was the son of Tom and Lydia Barlow and the husband of Beryl L Barlow, Castle Acre, Norfolk. FRHS, MRST. Before the war he was the Schoolmaster in Crakehall, living in the School House.
He is remembered on Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Additional information
HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were the first capital ships of the Royal Navy to be sunk by an attack by Aircraft. The wreck lies in the South China Sea.
 
DAVIES, Stephen Henry 
Private 9th (The Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons) Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Army no 328578.
He died on active service on Monday 14 February 1944. He was 26.
He was the son of Stephen and Amy Davies, Crakehall.
He is buried in El Alia Cemetery, Algeria and his headstone is inscribed Resting where no shadows fall, in perfect peace he awaits us all”
 
HUDSON, Robert Hall           DFM
Sergeant, 49 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no 1305510.
He was killed on active service on Thursday 27 April 1944. He was 21.
He was the son of Robert R and Margaret J Hudson, Crakehall.
He is buried in Ugny sur Meuse Communal Cemetery.
Additional information
Lancaster I LL908 EA-H took off from RAF Fiskerton on an operation to Schweinfurt at 21.39 hours. It crashed near Ugny sur Meuse.  All the crew were killed.  Robert Hudson’s DFM was gazetted on 9 May 1944 just a couple of weeks after his death.
 
 
 
 
 
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