Year of birth: 1883

Place of birth: Terrington, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Winchman - Merchant Navy

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Private

Service number: 23760

Enlistment place: Hartlepool, Durham, England, United Kingdom

Units:  —  Durham Light Infantry, 20th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 31/07/1917

Place of death: Graves Copse, Zillebeke, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 34

1914-15 Star Medal — 17/10/1917

British War Medal Medal — 23/04/1920

Victory Medal Medal — 23/04/1920

Private Tom Young served in the Durham Light Infantry, 20th Battalion, part of the 123rd Brigade, of the 41st Division. On the 31st of July 1917 the 41st Division was involved in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the opening stage of the Third Battle of Ypres. It operated on the right flank of the main attack astride the Ypres-Comines Canal and was to capture the village of Hollebeke.

The 41st Division attacked with 122nd and 123rd Brigades. The 123rd advanced North of the Canal in the direction of Hollebeke Château, with the 23rd Middlesex, 11th Queen’s, 10th Royal West Kents and the 20th Durham Light Infantry in support. Despite heavy resistance the first wave of the Brigade managed to capture the German’s frontline at Imperfect Trench. The 23rd Middlesex consolidated the trench and the attack was continued by the second wave. The going was tough. Swaths of flooded terrain made progress slow and the barrage got ahead of the troops. As the Brigade advanced it encountered more determined resistance. The second objective at Graves Copse was captured by the West Kents and the Queen’s.

Now the 20th Battalion Durham Light Infantry advanced to the Third and last objective, near Lock No. 6. However as soon as the Battalion crossed the second objective, at Graves Copse, it faced heavy German machine gun fire coming from concealed pill-boxes, which the barrage had failed to take out. The Battalion suffered heavy casualties, also by frequent shellfire. Persistent and well-aimed machine gun- and sniper fire of the 6th Bavarian Division demanded its toll and the 20th Durham Light Infantry was forced to dig in in front of their objective. During the rest of the day several German counterattacks were repelled by rifle- and artillery fire.

34-year-old private Tom Young was killed in action at the Ypres-Comines Canal, during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.

2 Battalion Durham Light Infantry , (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/1617/1). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303 Further reference

McCarthy C., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Uniform, 2018), pg. 22-23. Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/912440

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=693cea9c-3c85-4f0b-ac4c-41d2ee1354b2

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4933282