6th Yorkshire R. at Suvla Bay

[seaJane]

On 17/12/2019 at 18:03, stevem49 said:

I cannot find a John Thornton on the CWGC who fits the bill.

The only J Thornton recorded as dying at Gallipoli was John Thornton, killed on 19 August 1915 and served with the 8th Northumberland Fusiliers. It depends whether you think the two days' error and right battalion / wrong regiment is close enough to be worth following up. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/686525/thornton,-john/

 

These are the John Thorntons in the "Yorkshire Regiment" (search also picks up East and West Yorkshire Regiments) from the Medal Index Roll. The search also picks up those with middle names/initials; I've looked at a couple of plain John Thorntons from the Yorkshire Regiment and cannot see from the MIC preview that any of them saw their first service in Gallipoli. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q="Thornton%2C+John"+"Yorkshire+Regiment"

 

Again - it all depends how much effort you want to put in!

 

 

Edited 17 February , 2020 by seaJane
omitted link

[Staindropremembers]

Thanks seaJane

Had wondered about the CWGC one as it’s the closest we have found. As for medal cards they don’t really provide enough information to confirm or deny identity. 
Will have a trawl through and see if I can come up with anything clearer. 
Thanks for your help

Diane

[bmbab]

Back in posts #1 and #2 there were questions on how they got to Gallipoli. I have been researching the 9th West Yorks who sailed to Gallipoli on the Aquitania. If 6/Yorks were also on board then you might be interested in the following 'cuttings' from The Wetherby News:

 

Wetherby News August 27th 1915

 

Experiences of Former "News" Employee

 

FIRED AT BY A SUBMARINE

Pte. T. Beasley, of Kirk Deighton, a former employee at the "News" Office, and now with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, writing to a member of our Staff, says:-

"After leaving England we had an alarming experience. We embarked at Liverpool on the -----, and the voyage, which was pleasant and successfully accomplished, was not entirely void of thrilling moments. When clear of the escort which accompanied us until out of the exact danger zone, we were fired upon by a hostile submarine, the torpedo only just missing its intended mark by a few feet. Of course this created a state of alarm, and we all paraded on deck with lifebelts on. At the present time we are in a rather better quarter than on disembarking. Up to the present we have not been in action, but we are quite near enough to be well within the sound of guns, which at this moment are rather lively. We have all had another dose of inoculation - this time against cholera. I was thinking of the contrast between the Bank Holiday of 1914 and 1915. On the first I was at the dance at the Trustees' Hall, Boston Spa, and on the latter we were on night operations some few thousand miles away from that village, arriving at our self-made shelters rather tired at something like 3 o'clock in the morning. To-day I have received some papers from my sister, including the "News." I can assure you they are very welcome, and by the time they get round the Wetherby boys they have often deteriorated in size. We are camped quite close to the sea, and for the most part indulge in a swim twice a day, the first parade being at six a.m., and the other about five in the afternoon. These parades are always looked forward to, it being so frightfully hot."

Since the foregoing letter was written the Battalion has been in action, and sustained several casualties.

 

 

Wetherby News October 1st 1915

 

Letters from the Dardanelles and France

We print below extracts from two letters, (1) from Leonard Lane, Wighill Park, late of Wetherby, about the great battle of St.Julien; and (2; from Laurie Nightingale, Wetherby (West Yorks), giving an account of the landing of his battalion at Gallipoli.......

(2) Extract from Private L. Nightingale's letter:-
Dardanelles, Sept. 3rd, 1915.

"We sailed from Liverpool on the S.S. Aquitania on July 3rd with 8,000 troops and 1,000 crew aboard, so you may guess she was no toy. We were escorted to the mouth of the English Channel by two torpedo destroyers. They had hardly left us four hours before we were attacked by a German submarine. She fired a torpedo at us, which just missed the stern by four feet; so you may guess it was too near to be pleasant. We were all ordered on to the boat deck with life-belts on, ready to jump into the boats, until we got out of the danger zone. We soon outpaced it, as we took a zig-zag course all the way, doing 27 knots the biggest part of the journey. Another submarine was sighted off the coast of Spain, which gave chase, but suffered the same fate as the other. We were on the water ten days altogether, during which we spent time in a little drill and reading. The sea was as calm as the Wharfe at Wetherby. We had to take our life-belts with us wherever we went on the ships. We named them our haversack ration. We were landed on an island outside the Dardanelles, and we stayed there about a week. Then we were moved to another further up. Here we stayed about two weeks. Then we got to business. It is now a month since we landed, which, I may say, was forced. As soon as we left the lighters, we were greeted by a hail of lead from machine guns and rifle fire. We never fired a shot until day-break. We used the bayonet all the night, and with vengeance, too. My platoon officer was shot by my side as we left the boat. However, by 6.30 next morning, we had pushed them back above two miles, so we made a good jump off. My company was in reserve the next two days. On the 10th we made an attack on a position, but we were greatly outnumbered. My platoon and another were the firing line, supported by the rest. We hung on until they were all knocked out but I and two more, so we were forced to retire to the rear, and just caught the rest of the battalion retiring. All my platoon consisted of Wetherby boys. After we had retired to the bottom of the hill, the Turks set the gorse on fire, so the poor fellows that were wounded would be burnt to death. However, we hung on to the bottom of the hill and were relieved. Two days later we were sent down to the beach for a rest. But you don't get much rest, as there are too many fatigues. We stayed there a couple of days, then up to the firing line again. On the 21st the order came round to capture three Turkish trenches, but we had lost more than half of our battalion then, and it was my 20th birthday, too. I shall remember it to the longest day I live! The artillery and the ships started to bombard their position about 2.30 p.m. We made an advance about 3pm, but as soon as we got on to the parapet of our trench we were mown down like rabbits by shrapnel, machine guns, and rifle fire. It was hell on earth, absolute murder. We captured the trenches, but at a terrible loss. We were marched down to the beach next night with only 150 men and two officers, so you can guess they gave it us hot. Our division has done some splendid work on the Peninsula. We have gained some good positions, but had to retire from them through lack of reinforcements. I am in the firing line while I am writing this letter. We are expecting to be relieved any time. We will have to go to Alexandria to re-organise. I have had one or two narrow escapes; only yesterday I got blown up by a shell, but I escaped without injury. Fighting in France is a picnic to what this is."

 

Hope these cuttings help paint a picture of their terrible experiences

 

Alan

 

[Staindropremembers]

Thanks Alan

They sure had a horrific time out there and it sounds like a massacre. It always seems overshadowed by events on the Western Front but was every bit as horrific as that. 

 Fortunately we can only imagine what they went through which is why it is so important that they are remembered. 

We have no way of knowing whether our man John Thornton was with 6th Yorkshires as they can’t find any record of him. Without a service number it will be difficult to find him.

Thanks for your help 

Diane