Information about birth

Year of birth:
1879
Place of birth:
Golcar, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

General information

Profession:
Weaver

Army information

Country:
England, United Kingdom
Force:
British Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
300316
Enlistment place:
Halifax, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Units:
 —  Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment), 1/6th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
18/03/1918
Place of death:
Judge Subsector, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
39

Cemetery

Polygon Wood Cemetery
Plot: /
Row: H
Grave: 12

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 2

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place

My story

Wilfrid Smith was born in Golcar, a village near Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 1911 census he lived in Huddersfield, worked as a weaver, was married to Carrie Whitwam and had two children, Winifred and Frank. By 1918 Wilfrid served in the 1/6th Regiment, Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, part of the 147th Brigade, of the 49th (West Riding) Division.

In March 1918, his battalion was stationed in the Judge Subsector, on the Broodseinde Ridge. In the early hours of the 18th of March 1918, the Germans heavily shelled the frontline trenches and support lines of the battalion, after which they attempted to enter the trenches in front of “C” Company. The Germans were driven off by rifle fire. At dawn several German rifles and a cap were found in the front trench. Sixteen men were wounded and four men had been killed. Private Wilfrid Smith, 39, was killed, together with Serjeant Robert Green, 31, Private William Barrett, 21, and Private Charles Atha.

According to the battalion’s war diary they were all buried near the hamlet of Molenaarelsthoek, in the Noord Subsector, which was also held by the 147th Brigade. Wilfrid’s remains were reinterred in Polygon Wood Cemetery. The three others are remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Files 1

Sources 5

Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
Sources used
Barber, Stephen. Guiseley Terries: a small part in the Great War: a history of the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2018, pp. 163-165.
Sources used
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/480071/smith,-wilfrid/
Sources used
Naval and Military Archive
http://www.nmarchive.com/
Sources used
The Long Long Trail
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
Sources used