BORN HULL 07/11/1887. SON OF JOHN COATES (1847-1907) AND HANNAH MARY POLLITT (1847-1923), OF 1 BRIGHTSIDE AVENUE, WATERLOO STREET, HULL (1911 CENSUS). ONE OF SIX CHILDREN. HE HAD ONE BROTHER AND ONE SISTER.
MARRIED AT ST PAULS, HULL, ON 30/11/1917. HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH COATES (1887-1949) & DAUGHTER, ELIZABETH, LIVED AT 11, NEVEDA TERRACE, BLUNDELL STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS).
HE WAS A FORMER NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY (NER) GOODS PORTER & OPERATOR AT HULL WEST STATION. HE HAD JOINED THE NER IN 1901. DESCRIBED AS 5 FOOT, 6.5 INCHES TALL, 128 LBS WEUGHT, 36-38 INCH CHEST, BLUE EYES , FAIR HAIR, CHURCH OF ENGLAND RELIGION.
HE ENLISTED AT HULL, ON 09/09/1914. SERVED AS PRIVATE, 12246, 6TH EAST YORKSHIRE PIONEERS. LEFT ENGLAND, ON 14/07/1915. KILLED IN ACTION AT THE DARDENELLES, ON 22/08/1915, AGED 27. HE HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY, FOR 348 DAYS.
HIS NAME IS RECORDED ON THE NER ROLL OF HONOUR & HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON 14/09/1915, AND THE HULL TIMES 18/09/1915, WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH.
HIS WIFE RECEIVED A WEEKLY WAR PENSION, OF 15 SHILLINGS, ON 13/03/1916.
21st August 1915 – the attack on Scimitar Hill
Wyrall’s “East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War” shows that the 6th East Yorkshire Regiment had been in reserve from 10th to the 20th August at Nibrunesi Point where they had dug themselves in at the base of a cliff. On 20th August the 6thEast Yorkshires relieved the Northumberland Fusiliers in trenches South East of Chocolate Hill. They came under the orders of 34th Brigade who would attack “Hill W” the next morning.
The 6th Battalion were to dig in and support the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Dorset’s, who would attack the next morning. There was a delay due to lost orders and confusion, and the attack did not commence until 3pm on the 21st. When the Dorset’s and Lancashire’s left their trenches the 6th East Yorkshires moved forward to occupy these trenches. The Dorset’s and the Lancashire’s ran into stubborn resistance and so most of the 6th East Yorkshires were sent forward to support them. The 6th East Yorkshire‘s captured a Turkish trench in front of them and awaited relief. The 6th East York (Pioneers) had occupied Hill 70 (Scimitar Hill), next to W Hill the most vital of all the semicircle of heights overlooking Suvla Bay and were there only waiting for the brigade’s further advance upon W Hill or Anafarta Sagir, to both of which it is the key. They held this trench overnight, but it became impossible to hold the next morning (22nd August) as the number of Turks increased and they had no bombs. Around 7.30 am the 6th East Yorkshires retreated to their original trenches and later that night they were relieved and moved back to their original reserve trenches at Nibrunesi point the following morning. The 6th East Yorkshire casualties by 22nd August 1915, included 26 Officers and 628 men. Officer casualties were 80% and other ranks 68%.
