Raspin, Frank

Hull Pals Memorial Post. L/CPL FRANK RASPIN 11/474. Born in 1894, Frank was the youngest of five children to Jack and Harriet Raspin of 2 Howe Street, Jenning Street, Hull. A Blacksmith’s Striker before the war, he enlisted at City Hall on 8th September 1914 joining the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. Before leaving Hull he did two things of note, first up he was charged by the army for “using obscene language” on St. John’s Street where he apparently upset and offended passers-by; and secondly he married Mabel Hamilton on December 7th at Hull Registry Office- one presumes the two incidents weren’t linked. During training at Ripon Frank was again in trouble, this time for overstaying a pass, but he must have proved himself a capable soldier and leader of men for this didn’t affect his subsequent promotion from Private. Following the posting to Egypt where the Pals helped defend the Suez Canal from a potential attack by the Turks, the battalion sailed for France and the Western Front. A veteran of the Somme, he was listed as missing following the ill-fated attack on Oppy Wood on 3rd May 1917 and presumed dead for official purposes several months later. It was not until after the Armistice that his remains were discovered in a temporary grave and exhumed. Frank’s body now rests at Orchard Dump Cemetery; he was 22 years old.