Tank corps actions at the Battle of Pilkem

[johntaylor]

Chris, many thanks for sharing this fascinating further information about the Young family, and it's very sad to hear about the other tragedies they endured.  As you say, the chances of finding a full obituary in a local paper by 1917 are slim, unless they lived in a small rural community.  I agree that church magazines can be an excellent source of information, but of course they're even harder to find than local newspapers.

 

My interest in Bertram Young is partly sparked by our ongoing search for the fifth crewman who died in D51 Deborah, the tank that is the subject of various other discussions on this forum.  We know the names of four of the crew, who were buried opposite their destroyed tank, but in his letter of condolence the commander Frank Heap makes it clear that a fifth man also died.  We have no idea who this was, but Bertram was killed in D Battalion's attack on that date, so he is among the possible candidates.

 

If we could confirm this then I would have to bring out a new edition of my book - but I don't think that's likely to happen before Christmas!  Anyway I very much hope you enjoy reading it.

 

All the best, John