Duffield, Edwin Stanley

Hull Pals Memorial Post. L/CPL, EDWIN STANLEY DUFFIELD, 36661. Born January 1894, the youngest of two sons, to George and Louisa Duffield, of 105 West Parade, Spring Bank, Hull and Bentley Terrace, Convent Lane, Hull (War Pension address). Edwin was an Apprentice Tailor prior to enlistment, but fought in the trenches of France with the Pals throughout 1917. He was killed in action on 28th October 1917 at Arleux and his body was never recovered. His name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the missing. He was 23 years old. I mentioned in an earlier post that the trenches at Arleux were a fair distance apart. This made for a quiet sector and a much more laissez-faire attitude to the enemy. At night however, No-Man’s Land was alive with patrols and raiding parties and I would hazard a guess that it was one of these which claimed Edwin. His body not being recovered when there was not the chaos of a full scale assault would suggest he was killed after dark away from the safety of his own trench, somewhere he could not be easily retrieved. It’s speculation at this distance, but an educated guess.