Withernsea WW1 Memorial, Queens Street. The memorial was erected in 1923 at a cost of £451, the funds for which were collected through public subscription. A service of dedication was held in 1924. Inscribed in four columns, are the names of sixty-four men killed in World War I.
BORN HULL 1890. SON OF HARRY SMITH OFFICER (1856-1928) & MARY OFFICER, OF 43 CHESTNUT AVENUE, QUEENS ROAD, HULL. ONE OF SEVEN CHILDREN. SON OF A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER, SELLING CATTLE MEDICINES. HE WAS EMPLOYED AS A SEED MERCHANT’S CLERK AND RESIDED AT 34 PRINCES AVENUE, WITHERNSEA. (PROBATE ADDRESS). HE ENLISTED IN HULL. COMMISSIONED INTO THE 12TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. WOUNDED AT OPPY WOOD. HE DIED OF MASTOID MENIGITIS, ON 10/05/1917, AGED 28. HE IS
BURIED AT ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY. UNMARRIED HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO HIS FATHER. HE ALSO LEFT £27 IN HIS WILL TO HIS FATHER. HE WAS BROTHER TO REVEREND, ARTHUR WHITE OFFICER, REVEREND, LEONARD SYDNEY OFFICER, REVEREND, HARRY HENLY OFFICER, CYRIL SMITH OFFICER, FLORENCE PEASEGOOD, PERCY ROWLAND OFFICER, MARY CATHERINE OFFICER, AND LILIAN MAY OFFICER. HIS GRAVE INSCRIPTION, READS, “AS HE TROD THAT DAY TO GOD SO WALKED HE FROM HIS BIRTH”. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE WITHERNSEA WW1 MEMORIAL.
HIS BROTHER CYRIL, SERVED IN THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS, AND WAS WOUNDED IN THE LEFT FOOT, ON 22/10/1914. HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY ON 14/04/1917, AND WORKED FOR EARLES SHIP YARD.
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.
Withernsea WW1 Memorial, Queens Street. The memorial was erected in 1923 at a cost of £451, the funds for which were collected through public subscription. A service of dedication was held in 1924. Inscribed in four columns, are the names of sixty-four men killed in World War I.
