William Gillyon b1883

William was born on 10^th June 1883 at Grovehill, Beverley, the 8^th of Sarah Jane’s and Henry Park’s children. He was 4 when his dad died. Shortly afterwards his older brothers were sent away to the Hull Seaman’s and General Orphanage on Spring Bank in Hull. His mum died 3 weeks before his 14^th birthday. That’s a lot of tragedy for one so young. Who looked after William after Sarah Jane died? By 1901 he was working on Harrison’s farm (Fairfield Farm) at Howsham near Malton. I don’t know how long he stayed in Howsham but he married Edith Adeline Corner in Hull on 17^th August 1909 at the age of 26, as far as I am aware they had no children.

William’s War

William Gillyon 10.06.1883 - 29.09.1915

Enlisted 10^th May 1915

Disembarked in France 7^th July 1915

Killed in action 29^th September 1915, Battle of Loos

Home address 6 Kingston Place, Richards Buildings, Sykes St, Hull

He is described as a labourer and had previously served for 6 years in the armed forces, but I can’t read where. Please let me know if you can make it out.

Regimental number 17995

2^nd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment

83^rd Brigade

28^th Division

I Corp

William was posthumously awarded three medals:

• The 1915 Star
• The British Medal
• The Victory Medal.

The Battle of Loos

The battle started 25^th September 1915, it was notable for the following:

• the first time the British had used poisonous gas, although it didn’t go too well due to unfavourable weather.
• Although not the largest absolute number of casualties in WW1 it was the largest proportion of troops fighting in a battle to lose their lives. More died at the Somme, but a lot more were fighting (possibly William’s brother Albert).
• Rudyard Kipling’s son, Jack, lost his life in this battle.

William died on 29^th September. What action was he involved in on that day? So far I have the following information:

27/09/1915 The 28^th Division relieved the 9^th Division

28/09/1915 28^th Division attempt to recover The Dump and Fosse 8

I have copies of the war diary for the 2^nd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment for 25^th - 29^th September 1915. It doesn’t give enough detail to say exactly how he died, after all he was only a private. It does mention the following. On 28^th Sept the Battalion came under the order of 22^nd Brigade, B & C Companies moved into trenches west of Quarry Trench close to The Dump and Fosse 8 which they were trying to recapture. On the 29^th September (the day William died) the enemy started a bombing attack at about 7am down nearby St Elie trench and C Company from the Battalion went to support the allies under attack there. During this about 90 men of C Company became casualties including Captain ES Wilson and 2nd Lt Frere. This is the most significant action recorded in the diary for the 29^th, so William may have been in C Company supporting the 1^st South Staffordshires of 22^nd Brigade, 7^th Division. I may find out more if I look into the Sth Staffs.

His body is one of 20,000 with no known grave which usually means that they recovered nothing recognisable to bury, so it is unlikely he was injured a day or two earlier and died of his wounds in the field hospital. The other possibility is that due to the high number of casualties over such a short period they were unable to bury the bodies in individual graves. He is commemorated at the Loos Memorial in Dud Corner Cemetery near the village of Loos in France (panel 40 & 41).

I received the following from a fellow Gillyon researcher:

“Private William Gillyon's military registration papers are one of just three Gillyon records which survives as part of the "burnt record" series, at the National Archives, Kew Gardens in London. Obviously his widow, Edith had written a scathing letter to the Home office at some point, perhaps after she had been notified that William had been killed, because a copy of the Home Office's fascinating response is kept with William's records. Here is a transcription of that letter:

Letter 12 Nov 1915 From War Office, London, SW

Sir, I am directed to inform you that in view of the immoral conduct of the widow of No. 17995 Private William Gillyon, East Yorkshire Regiment, she is not eligible for pension from Army funds. Mrs. Gillyon and the Regimental Paymaster should be informed accordingly. The marriage certificate received with her application for pension is returned herewith.

I am,

Sir,

your obedient servant

His army registration papers note 2 different addresses at the time when William signed up. He was living at 6 Kingston Place, B<unreadable> Buildings, Syke Street, Hull, but his wife was living at 6 Gordon Avenue, Eastbourne Street, Hull. Perhaps they had separated before he joined the Army and maybe this is why his widow Edith had sent the marriage certificate to the Army, to prove that they were in fact married.”

William’s widow Edith married Frank Thompson in 1919.

Visit to the Loos Memorial 21^st October 2007

Back to Albert Gillyon’s siblings

More on Albert’s brother Henry