12352 L/Cpl Percy George Wardle, 7th Leicestershire Regiment

Photograph wanted of 12352 L/Cpl Percy George Wardle, 7th Leicestershire Regiment who died of wounds on the 4th October 1917. Percy had been gassed and died at 8.15pm at No 3 casualty clearing station which was located close to Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery where he is now buried.

Percy Wardle in the 1911 Census

Percy Wardle was the son of Charles & Sarah Annie Wardle of 651 Oak Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The 1911 Census, taken in April that year, records Percy's age as 14, but he would have been closer to 15 as he was baptised at Hornington parish church, Staffordshire, on the 6th May 1896. Charles and Percy's older brother, also Charles (aged 23), are both listed as brewery workers on the 1911 census, whilst 14-year-old Percy is recorded as an errand boy.

Percy Wardle, Leicestershire Regiment

There is no surviving service record for Lance-Corporal Wardle but his regimental number indicates that he must have joined the Leicestershire Regiment in the first week of September 1914 and therefore he was probably an original member of the 7th Battalion which was formed at Leicester in September 1914. The battalion would subsequently form part of the 110th Brigade as part of the 37th Division.

Percy Wardle - wounded on the Somme

Percy's medal index card indicates that he arrived in France on the 29th July 1915 and so he would have been entitled to the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. He was wounded on the Somme in July 1916 and admitted to No 34 Casualty Clearing Station with a bullet wound to his left thigh. The brief report from that CCS indicates that he was serving with A Company.

Percy Wardle - witness to an accidental killing

It is not clear how long Percy's recuperation took, but he was certainly back with his battalion by June 1917 and witness to the accidental shooting and killing of 10086 Pte W Wickens by 25264 Cpl T Hickin at about 4am on the 14th June 1917. His badly damaged witness statement survives in WO 363.

Photograph wanted: Percy George Wardle

If you know of the whereabouts of a photograph of Percy George Wardle, please do post a comment on this blog post or send an email to paul@britisharmyancestors.co.uk

Lieutenant Harold Monkley Bygott - Harold Bygott - H M Bygott

Please drop me a line if you know of the existence of a photograph of Harold Monkley Bygott.

Harold M Bygott was born in about 1883. He was the son of Walter and Rosina and Amelia Bygott and he served in the British Army during the First World War, first as a private and later corporal with the 1/1st County of London Yeomanry (regimental number 3544), and later with the Machine Gun Corps Cavalry (regimental number 110958). In June 1918 he was commissioned in the Leicestershire Regiment and ended the war as a second lieutenant.

According to the 1911 Census of England & Wales, Harold Bygott was born in Fallowfield, Manchester. He appears on the census return at 75 Elborough Street, Southfields, Wandsworth; a 28-year old shipping clerk recorded as Harold M Bygott and living as a boarder with Robert Roberts and his family.

During the First World War Harold first served overseas in Egypt from the 28th April 1915. He would later claim his three campaign medals which were sent to him at the same Elborough Street address in 1922.

During the Second World War, Harold was in uniform again and serving with the Pioneer Corps (army number 131752). He survived that war too but died on the 25th January 1946 aged 63 and is buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.

If you know of the existence of a photograph for this man I would be very interested to see it - please drop me a line at paul@britisharmyancestors.co.uk

The well-known image on this post shows machine gunners on the Somme in July 1916. Image copyright Imperial War Museum, Q3995.