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War
Memorials Elsewhere, - Barnsley, St. John's Church |
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The
War Memorial for St. John's Church, Barnsley
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Photo : Wayne Bywatre (<waynetyke123@aol.com>)
Below the memorial for the parishioners of St. Peter's, in the Church of St. Peter, Barnsley, is the War memorial for the Church of St. John the Baptist, Barnsley. The original of this memorial was lost in the 1960s when the church of St John the Baptist, in the Barebones area of Barnsley was demolished.
The memorial is a large oak board with raised border, about 6' across by 4' high. Lists 140 names in five columns of painted black print. The names are from the newspaper report of the original memorial's unveiling.
A transcription of the names is on the Imperial war Museum's Register of War Memorials website.
1 soldier of the Yorkshire Regiment is commemorated on this memorial.
Captain William Henry George Raley. 3rd Battalion attached
to 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Eldest son of Lt. Col. William Emsley
Raley, of Darley Hall, Barnsley, Yorks, and the late Elizabeth Emsley Raley.
Killed 15 June 1915. Aged 30.
Commemorated on Panel 12, LE TOURET MEMORIAL.
The following additional biographical information is taken from Roberts Coulson's
Biographies
of Officers of the Yorkshire Regiment;-
"William Raley was born in Barnsley on May 3rd 1885.
He qualified into the legal profession and was admitted to the bar in 1908
working as Managing Clerk for the family firm of Raley & Sons in Barnsley.
A pre war territorial soldier he first went to France with the Royal Fusiliers
in December of 1914 but was invalided home with blood poisoning.
Captain Raley then joined the 2nd Yorkshires in May of 1915 just after the
Battle of Festubert. On June 14th the battalion moved into trenches to the
east of Givenchy and attacked at 6-00 a.m. the next day after the blowing
of a mine under the enemy line. Captain William Henry George Raley was killed
in this action on June 15th 1915 at the age of 30
The following was written in the official history of the regiment;-
“Captain Raley and most of his “B” company were hit before
they got away from their parapet”."
The War Memorial for St. John's Church beneath the War Memorial for St. Peter's
Church, Barnsley
Select the above image for a larger one which opens in a new window
Photo : Wayne Bywatre (<waynetyke123@aol.com>)
St. Peter's Church, Barnsley
Photo : Google
Earth
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