Kingston upon Hull War Memorial 1914 - 1918
The story of Hull in World War 1
Over, 7,500 Hull men died in the First World War. Over 1,200 of these were sailors working with the fishing fleet, or serving with the Merchantile Marine, the Royal Navy and the Royal Navy Reserve. They carried out vital war work, bringing in supplies, transporting troops and minesweeping the seas
There were nearly another 1,500 men who were born in Hull, but who lived elsewhere. They died fighting for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and America. There are many others, who enlisted in Hull or who were associated with the City, but are not usually remembered on Hull war memorials. As Hull had four large hospitals and was the port of entry for repatriated prisoner of wars, servicemen from all over the world are buried in Hull. The Kingston Upon Hull Memorial aims to remember all those with a Hull connection who died in the First World War.
There are over a hundred families on the Hull Memorial that lost two or more of their family. Sometimes fathers, sons and brothers were lost on the same day. Some families lost three sons, other Hull families lost four sons, including all their children in the First World War. At least one in six Hull families lost a direct relative. Many others would lose close friends, work colleagues or others known to them. Each death was irreplaceable and an individual tragedy for someone.
Unfortunately, not all deaths were recorded in official casualty figures, particularly if soldiers died of sickness, accidents or were discharged home with wounds, of illness. By 1924 the Ministry of Pensions reported that there were 20,000 war wounded living in Hull. Although they survived the war, they are rarely recorded on war memorials. What follows here are snippets of some of those people who died, whose deaths were reported in the local newspapers.
Hull was unusual in that it recruited an entire (Hull) Brigade in the 31st Army Division. This included five ‘Hull Pals’ battalions which were five Infantry Regiments, three Heavy Artillery Batteries and a Divisional Ammunition Column. After a short spell in Egypt, the Hull Pals, served on the Western Front from 1916 until the end … Read more
Hull has historically enjoyed successful trade links with most of the ports of Northern Europe, from Antwerp in the west, to St. Petersburg in the east, Le Havre in the south and to Trondheim in the north. Between 1836-1914, 2.2 million people, mostly from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Russia and Sweden, passed through Hull, on … Read more
The First World War was the first truly global conflict. Between 1914 and 1918, more than 100 countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and Europe were part of the conflict in some form. The British Army alone consisted of troops from six different continents: Europe, North America, South America, Australasia, Asia and Africa. The … Read more
The East Yorkshire Regiment was the local army regiment, which many Hull men joined and died. The origins of the East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York’s Own), can be traced back to 1685. During the Great War 1914-1918, The Regiment raised a total of 35 Battalion and fought in the major theatres of war; … Read more
At the outbreak of the war in August 1914, the British regular army was a small professional force. It consisted of 247,432 regular troops organised into 10 regiments of Guards, 157 infantry battalions, 31 cavalry regiments, artillery and other support arms. Almost half of the regular army (74 of the 157 infantry battalions and 12 of … Read more
In November 2012, the Western Front Association acquired some 6.5 million Pension Record Index Cards and Ledgers. These help cross check information and can potentially provide unique information, such as an individuals unit, next of kin, wounds and injuries received (or disabling ailments), recovery from wounds and injuries in the post war years and pension … Read more
Searching soldier’s records to positively identify a serviceman, their unit and where they lived is also difficult. Over 60% of the National Archives were destroyed in the 1940 London Blitz. This included the War Records of five million British men and women that served in the World War One.There is another set of records called … Read more
Unlike many cities, Hull does not have a public memorial which lists all the names of the fallen in the First World War. Hull has a Cenotaph at Paragon Square, but this does not list any individual names. The ‘Golden Book’ of Remembrance commissioned after the war and kept at the Holy Trinity Church, in … Read more
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The Hull Corporation recorded that 7,000 men died in the war and 14,000 were wounded, of which 7,000 were maimed. There were over a hundred Hull families that lost two or more from the same family. At least ten Hull families lost three sons and four Hull families, lost four sons. Many more returned injured … Read more
