Hull Pals Memorial Post. SERGEANT JOHN LEONARD HESELTINE 11/883. Born in 1888, John was the son of John Heseltine (1846-1917) and Clara Helena Edwards (1849-1937), of 18, Richmond Terrace, Waterloo Street, Hull (War Pension address). A Plumber before the war, he had married on 23rd July 1910 and settled with his wife Gertrude at 37, Blundell Street, Beverley Road, Hull.
When war came John queued in those long uneven lines of 10th September 1914 to join the then fledgling 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, Hull Pals. His army records described him as 5 foot, 8.5 inches tall, 37-39 inch chest, 160 lbs weight, grey eyes, light brown hair, Church of England religion. Having first served in Egypt over Christmas 1915, the battalion set sail for France and the trenches of the Western Front. John was a promoted to Sergeant, on 16th March 1916. He received shrapnel wounds to his back and left leg on 16th April 1916 and was evacuated to 4th Casualty Clearing Station at Beauval where he died of wounds the following day, in what kind of agony we thankfully cannot imagine. John is buried at Beauval Communal Cemetery; he was 28 years old and had served in the army for 1 year and 221 days.
His name is listed on the Waterloo Street roll of Honour (HDM 27/04/1916). His widow, Gertrude was awarded a weekly war pension of 11 shillings. She had three children, but they all died in infancy.
