William Norton Lance Corporal in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

[mindful45]

Hi

I am trying to find out more about this man as he was my Gt-Gt-Uncle on my Maternal line. All I do know is that he was killed on 7th May 1915, other than that I know nothing. Would he have been killed at Ypres? Apparently there is no known grave.....if there is any information out there it would be great to learn more, as he has been shrouded in mystery for a very long time.

[ajsmith]

The battalion War Diary can be downloaded free from here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352257 you just have to register. This will give you some idea what they were doing on the day in question. It's unlikely he will be mentioned by name.

[ajsmith]

This piece from the Yorkshire Evening Post - Tuesday 01 June 1915 fills in a few details about him(Courtesy BNA)

Edited 23 November , 2020 by ajsmith

[MaxD]

The diary that ajsmith points you to has a very detailed account of the action at the Zwartelleeen Salient and Hill 60 (Ypres) including a sketch map.   See also Battle of Hill 60 (Western Front) - Wikipedia  The casualties in the battalion included 40 NCOs and men missing.

 

The map at the link below is of a later date so the trench lines may not be representative of the 1915 lines but as Hill 60 was fought over right through to 1917 are enough to show the area.  (Use the blue slider at the left to show the modern day image)

 

Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland (nls.uk)

 

Max

[Matlock1418]

1 hour ago, mindful45 said:

I am trying to find out more about this man as he was my Gt-Gt-Uncle on my Maternal line. All I do know is that he was killed on 7th May 1915, other than that I know nothing. Would he have been killed at Ypres? Apparently there is no known grave.....if there is any information out there it would be great to learn more, as he has been shrouded in mystery for a very long time.

AJS has already partially revealed what I thought I could from his/his widow's pension - that he had children

His Pension Ledger at the WFA/Fold3 reveals that his widow, Florry [b.1879] got an Alternative Pension, Widow's - i.e. not the standard one for herself and her children [until they were 16 or left her care] - Seemingly partly because she would have got an age-related supplement as she was over 35 and more particularly because it appears she must have made an application revealing/proving that her husband's pre-war earnings [as a postman it would seem] were more than was generally provided for by the standard pension arrangements [she'd have normally had to have got his earning certified and have some from of evidence such as payslips or a letter or the like - probably easier if working for the Post Office than for many other widows].

Sadly the main pension files are generally long lost but the PL reveals that she got £1 16s 6d per week [for herself and children] - not necessarily a huge amount but seems likely to be more than most who under similar family circumstances weren't eligible/or could not prove pre-war earnings for an AP.

She was living at 182 Woodhouse St., Leeds.

:-) M

 

Edited 23 November , 2020 by Matlock1418
typo

[mindful45]

Interesting. Thankyou.