PTE Lawrence Hardy 5940, 1/4 Bn., Duke Of Wellington's (W. R.) KIA 15 Feb 1917

[R_M_A_C]

This is my first post, so I apologize if I have not posted in the correct place.

I am researching my uncles, three Bradford brothers who died fighting with local West Yorkshire units in 1917. The oldest, PTE Lawrence Hardy 5940, served with the 1/4th Bn. of the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment. He joined the unit on June 26th, 1916 and (I assume) he was with them at the Somme between July and September 27th. On September 28th he was hospitalized for dyspepsia, by November 11th he was discharged at the 34th Infantry Depot at Etaples and rejoined his unit by December.

Now here is my question: It says by December 15th he rejoined the battalion and he was "killed in action" Feb 15th 1917. However, I cannot find any record of a battle that his unit would have been apart of at this time through online resources. Unfortunately Ancestry has let me down as they do not have the War Diary in their collection. I was hoping that this forum could perhaps shed some light on this before I purchase the war diary from the National Archive.

 

Is it possible that, though it says Killed in Action, he was killed in a way other than engagement with the enemy? Am I missing something on the record showed here?

Thanks for your help,

Rene

[clk]

Hi Rene,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

29 minutes ago, R_M_A_C said:

Ancestry has let me down as they do not have the War Diary in their collection

 

On Ancestry the Battalion war diary for February 1917 starts here.

 

Regards

Chris

[IPT]

Nice find, and with tremendous good fortune, ORs are named.  Hardy killed by hostile shelling during the relief.

[Old Owl]

Looks like he may have been killed by shell-fire at or near Riviere.

 

The battalion history mentions nothing specific although there was a raid by the battalion upon the enemy lines on the 18/2/17, however no fatal casualties are recorded in the history for this raid other than a Sgt Sheard who was severley wounded and died a few days later.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Robert

[R_M_A_C]

2 hours ago, clk said:

Hi Rene,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

 

On Ancestry the Battalion war diary for February 1917 starts here.

 

Regards

Chris

"Pte. Hardy L. C Coy. Killed by hostile shelling"

This is amazing, thank you so much. When I was searching it is written that it only covers "1915 Apr 1 - 1915 Dec 31" even though it obviously goes further! I cant believe there is an actual written account.

Edited 16 December , 2017 by R_M_A_C

[clk]

Hi,

 

Depending on what you are looking for you may find more contextual information in the Brigade HQ diary (here on Ancestry), and the Division HQ diary (here on Ancestry).

 

Lawrence does have a surviving will - £10 from here. It may well consist of only a few words that add little or nothing to what you already know. If you did decide to get a copy it would come as a pdf file - a low resolution black and white scan of the original. Personally, I'd just have to scratch the itch, even if I just ended up a small example of his handwriting.

 

Regards

Chris

[DaveC]

5940  Pte Hardy L 15/02/1917 'C' Company sheet 1/2000 sheet 51.c. SE R 21.d.1.2  16/02/1917

 

Taken from Casualty list   Shows he was buried the next day    Map Ref.     Regards DaveC

Edited 16 December , 2017 by DaveC