​The War Memorial in Well
 
The Church of St Michael the Archangel has a wooden plaque:
 
FOR GOD, KING and COUNTRY
GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS

G BIRKITT                  H V STEEL
T BIRKITT                   G J SPEDDING
J CLARKE                  W TILLY
J CAMERON              E WATSON
F DURNVILLE             J WINTERSGILL
S EVANS                   H CALVERT
A HAWKRIDGE         H SCURRAH
J E JOHNSON            M ROPER
J OYSTON                  H BINKS
 
1914 - 1919
 
The Fallen in WW1
 
BINKS, Harold
Private, 13th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment), 30th Division.  Army no. 235223.
He was killed in action on Friday 22nd March 1918 at the Battle of St Quentin. He was 24.
He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Binks, Well.
He is remembered on the Arras Memorial, France.
He was native of Well and lived at Aysgarth.
 
BURKITT, George
Private, 8th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force. Army no. 1709.
He died from his wounds on Sunday 25 June 1916. He was treated at 14th Field Ambulance for shrapnel wounds to his buttocks and right leg then transferred to 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station where he died of his wounds. He was 25.  
He was the son of Mary and the late Wharfe Burkitt, Well.
He is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord near the French border with Belgium.
Additional information
He joined up on 4 January 1915 in Victoria, Australia into the 8th/4th Reinforcement Battalion and had fought in Gallipoli.
The surname is not BIRKITT as it appears on the War Memorial

BURKITT, Thomas
Private, 7th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry), 76 Brigade, 3rd Division.  Army no. 14605.
He was killed in action on 14 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on the Somme.  He was 28.
He was the son of Mary and the late Wharfe Burkitt, Well.
He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme.
Additional information
The surname is not BIRKITT as it appears on the War Memorial.
 
CALVERT, Henry
Private, 2nd/4th (Hallamshire) Battalion TF, The York and Lancaster Regiment, 187 Brigade, 62nd Division.  Army no. 263079. He also served as Private, Army no. 2862 with The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment).
He was killed in action on Friday 13 September 1918 in the fighting around the Hindenburg Line. He was 20.
He was the son of George and Alice Calvert, The Grange, Nosterfield, Well.
He is remembered on the Vis en Artois Memorial, France.
 
CLARK, John Lancaster
Private, 9th (Service) Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), 69 Brigade, 23rd Division. Army no. 235874. He had also served as Private, Army no. 330228, with The Yorkshire Hussars.
He died from his wounds on 21 May 1918 in the Hospital Centre at St Pol. He was 23.
He was the son of John and Ellen Clark, Snape.
He is buried in Pernes British Cemetery, near St Pol, France.
Additional information
His birth is registered as CLARK and CWGC records his name as both Clark and Clarke!!. The Memorial has Clarke.
He was born at Snape and enlisted at Malton.
 
DUMVILLE, Fred
Private, 1/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment. Army no. 31814.
He died at Scalebor Park Hospital, Burley in Wharfedale on Saturday 1 February 1919. He was 20.
He was the son of Elizabeth and the late James Dumville, Yew Tree House, Snape.
He is buried in the Churchyard of St Michael, The Archangel, Well.
Additional information
His name on the memorial is Durnville and it should be Dumville.
 
EVANS, Samuel
Private, 6th (Service) Battalion, Prince Albert’s (Somerset Light Infantry), 43 Brigade, 14th Division.  Army no. 20168.
He was killed in action on Friday 18 August 1916 in the fighting in Delville Wood. He was 24.
He was the son of Jesse and Elizabeth Evans, Thorpe Perrow, Bedale and the husband of Hannah Evans, Cornett Ullingswick, Pencombe, Worcestershire.
He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme.

HAWKRIDGE, Alexander Duncan
Petty Officer, HMS Vanguard, Royal Navy RN No. 209160.
He died on active service at sea on 9 July 1917. He was 33.
He was the son of Samuel and Barbara Hawkridge, Snape.
He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent.
Additional information
On 9 July 1917, HMS Vanguard was anchored in Scapa Flow when, in seconds an internal explosion destroyed the ship, killing 843 men on board, just 2 survived.
This was not the result of enemy attack; it was the result of an internal explosion. In 1975, The RN Command Clearance Diving Team carried out an investigation, almost 50 years later, which confirmed that the explosion destroyed virtually all the ordnance on board and blew the ship apart.

JOHNSON, John Edward
Private, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 109 Brigade, 36th Division. Army no. 41496. He had earlier served as Private, Army no. 5282, with the 83rd Training Reserve Battalion.
He was killed in action on 15 October 1918 in the Battle of Courtrai. He was 35.
He was the son of Eli and Ann Johnson of Snape.
He is buried in Dadizeele New British Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, Belgium.


OYSTON, Josias
Private, 8th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment), 69 Brigade, 23rd Division.  Army no. 26581.
He was killed in action on Thursday 31 August 1916. He was 24.
He was the son of Henry and Mary Jane Oyston, Snape.
He is buried in Berks Cemetery Extension, near Ypres, Belgium.
 
ROPER, Mark
Private, 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry.  Army no. 5697. He also served as Private, Army no. 28614 with Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment)
He was killed in action on Sunday 5 November 1916. He was 38.
He was the son of Thomas Richard and Mary Ann Roper, The Square, Masham and husband of Florence Edith Roper, The Schoolhouse, Well, Bedale.
He is buried in Warlencourt British Cemetery, near Bapaume, France. His headstone is inscribed until the day breaks and the shadows pass away.
He also appears on the Memorial in Masham.

SCURRAH, Harold
Private, 6th (Service) Battalion, The King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry), 43 Brigade, 14th Division.  Army no. 18596.
He was killed in action on Friday 24 September 1915 in Belgium. He was 23.
He was the son of William and Margaret Scurrah, Burghwallis, Doncaster.
He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.
He was born at Well.
 
SPEDDING, John
Private, 2nd/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, TF, 183 Brigade, 61st Division.  Army no. 235063. He had also served as Private, Army no. 3125 with The South Staffordshire Regiment.
He was killed in action on 27 August 1917 in the aftermath of the Battle of Langemarck. He was 20.
He was the son of John and the late Mary A Spedding, Snape.
He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.
 
STEEL, Harold Victor MM
Lance Corporal, 9th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment). Army no. 38500.
He was killed in action on 7 September 1918 probably fighting with 23rd Division. He was 21.
He was the son of William and Sarah Ann of Snape.
He is buried in Magnaboschi British Cemetery, Italy.

TILLY, Charles Wynn
Lieutenant Colonel, 18th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry attached to 15th (Service) Battalion (1st Leeds), The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), 93 Brigade, 31st Division.
He was killed in action on Sunday 14 April 1918 at the Battle of Hazebrouck. He was 41.
He was the son of Tobias H and Onora Tilly, Seaton Carew, West Hartlepool and the husband of Ruth Tilly, 19 Lee Terrace, Blackheath, London.
He is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium. 
Additional information
His Probate record gives his address as Snape Castle, Bedale.
 
WATSON, Eric Thomas
Sergeant, 1st/6th Battalion TF, The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), 146 Brigade, 49th Division.  Army no. 904.
He was killed in action on 23 November 1916. He was 25.
He was the son of John William and Rebecca Mary Watson, Bradford and the husband of Gladys Watson, Rose Villa, Snape, Bedale.
He is buried in Hannescamps New Military Cemetery, France where his headstone is inscribed “Death cannot Divide”.
 
WINTERSGILL, Joseph Thomas
Private, 7th (Service) Battalion, The King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry), 61 Brigade, 20th Division. Army no. 24759. He also served as Private, Army no. 27245 in The York and Lancaster Regiment.
He was killed in action on Thursday 4 April 1918 on the Somme. He was 38.
He was the husband of Ada Wintersgill of Ripon.
He is buried in Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France.
 
 
The Fallen in WW1 who are not on the Memorial
 
JOHNSON, John Ingram
Private, 7th (Service) Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment) 50 Brigade, 17th Division.  Army no. 18772.
He was the son of Eli and Ann Johnson of Snape.
He died from his wounds on Sunday 8 August 1915. He was 33 and born in Snape.
He is buried in Voormezeele Enclosure No.3 near Ypres, Belgium.
 
NICHOLSON, Septimus Frederick
Lance Corporal, 2nd Battalion, The South Wales Borderers, 87 Brigade, 29th Division.  Army no. 40753.
He was killed in action on Tuesday 31 July 1917 in the fighting at Passchendaele (The third Battle). He was 30.
He was the son of Henrie and Elizabeth Nicholson of Snape and the husband of Clara Anne Nicholson, Lancashire.
He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.
 
WINTERSGILL, Robert 
Private, 7th Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Own, (Yorkshire Regiment), 50 Brigade, 17th Division.  Army no. 12823
He was killed in action on Saturday 22 December 1917. He was 23.
He was the son of Robert and Charlotte Wintersgill of Masham.
He is buried in Neuville-Bourjonval British Cemetery near Belincourt, France