BORN ATWICK 1892. SON OF GEORGE BINNING (1860-1942) AND ESTHER ELLEN STAVELEY (1859-1945), OF 37 SOUTHGATE, HORNSEA. ONE OF TWO SONS. A JOINER AND WHEELWRIGHT. UNMARRIED.
HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS ON 19/09/1914. HIS ARMY RECORDS DESCRIBE HIM AS 5 FOOT 6.5 INCHES TALL, 137 LBS WEIGHT, 36 INCH CHEST, BLUE EYES, BROWN HAIR, A PERMANENT SCAR ON HIS LEFT KNEE. HE TRAINED AT HOLME, RIPON AND SALISBURY ARMY CAMPS. POSTED TO THE 12TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT (3RD HULL PALS BATTALION). SERVED IN EGYPT FROM 15/12/1915 AND IN FRANCE, FROM 08/03/1916. DIED OF WOUNDS, AT OPPY WOOD, ON 05/05/1917, AGED 25. HE HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY FOR 2 YEARS AND 229 DAYS.
HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO HIS MOTHER. THEY INCLUDED: TWO RELIGIOUS BOOKS, DISC, LETTERS, PHOTOS, POCKET CASE, HANKERCHIEF, METAL WATCH, PURSE, KNIFE, LOCK OF HAIR, CAP BADGE, 5 COINS, AND A KEY.
HIS NAME WAS LISTED ON ST MARYS CHURCH, SCULCOATES LANE, HULL. ALSO RECORDED WITH HIS BROTHER, CHRISTOPHER BINNING, WHO ALSO SERVED WITH THE EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, ON THE NICHOLSON STREET ROLL OF HONOUR.
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.
