BORN HULL 1897. SON OF ANNIE HARDMAN (1872-1948) AND STEPFATHER JOSEPH HARDMAN (1871-1934), OF 126 ST MARKS STREET AND 9 CAROLINE PLACE, CHARLES STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). HE HAD TWO BROTHERS, JOHN AND FRED AND ONE STEP SISTER, EDITH HARDMAN
AN ERRAND BOY AND LABOURER. DESCRIBED AS 5 FOOT, 5 INCHES TALL, 128 LBS WEIGHT, 35-37 INCH CHEST, BROWN EYES AND BROWN HAIR.
HE ENLISTED IN THE 12TH HULL PALS, ON 29/09/1914. TRAINED AT DALTON HOLME, RIPON AND SALISBURY. HE WAS PUNISHED FOR A NUMBER OF DISCIPLINARY OFFENCES – DISOBEYING ORDERS, INSOLENCE TO A NCO, DIRTY KIT, OVERSTAYING PASS, LATENESS AND ABSENCES WHILE TRAINING. HE SERVED IN EGYPT AND FRANCE. WAS KILLED AT OPPY WOOD, ON 03/05/1917, AGED 20. HE HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY FOR TWO YEARS AND 24 DAYS. HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO HIS MOTHER, ANNIE.
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.
HE LEFT A BROTHER, JOHN. HIS OTHER BROTHER, PRIVATE, FREDERICK ALLEN KIRKWOOD, 1/4TH EYR, WAS KILLED IN ACTION, A MONTH EARLIER, ON 23/04/1917, AGED 21. BOTH BROTHERS ARE COMMEMORATED ON THE ARRAS MEMORIAL TO THE MISSING.
