BORN HULL 1882. HULL PAL. THIRD SON OF WILLIAMGARFITT (1851-1928) & HARRIET GARFITT (1854-1926), OF 31, CLEVELAND STREET, HULL & 48, REDCAR STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESSES). HE HAD THREE BROTHERS AND A SISTER. WORKED FOR MESSRS, HURTLEYS, FLOUR MILLS, WILMINGTON, HULL
HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS, SERVING WITH THE 12TH AND 13TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, IN EGYPT, AND FRANCE. HE KILLED IN ACTION AT OPPY WOOD, ON 03/05/1917, AGED 35. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON 27/02/1918. *
HIS NAME IS LISTED ON HULL’S ST MARKS STREET MEMORIAL & ALSO THE SCOTT STREET ROLL OF HONOUR, WITH PTE. J GARFITT, EYR (PRISONER).
HE WAS ONE OF FOUR SONS SERVING. THE GARFITT FAMILY ARE PHOTOGRAPHED IN UNIFORM IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON THE 15TH APRIL 1915. HIS BROTHER, PRIVATE, ERNEST GARFITT, 6TH EYR, SERVED IN THE DARDENELLES AND FRANCE AND WAS WOUNDED TWICE.
The attack on Oppy Wood, part of the Battle of Arras, was a significant battle for the East Yorkshire Regiment and particularly for the city of Hull. All four Hull Pals battalions were involved on 3 May and all suffered heavy casualties, with 40% of those present killed or injured. 2nd Lieutenant Jack Harrison, a local teacher and rugby player with Hull FC, won a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery in rushing a machine gun position to protect his platoon. His body was never found.The village of Oppy in France had been in German hands since October 1914 and was part of a formidable defensive system including trenches, dug-outs and thick barbed wire defences. During the Battle of Arras, which began in April 1917, the British tried to take Oppy. The first attack was a failure. A second attack was partially successful. The third attack on 3 May, known officially as the Third Battle of the Scarpe, was again unsuccessful with significant loss of life. The troops were ordered to attack at 3.45am, rather than at dawn, and the defending Germans could easily see the line of British soldiers clearly lit by the full moon. The British continued to attack Oppy and were finally successful the following year. The City of Hull Memorial at Oppy was unveiled in 1927 and commemorates the men of the Hull Pals who were killed on 3 and 4 May 1917.
