Centenary of the First World War 1914-18
On the 4th August 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany in support of its treaty obligations to Belgium and France.
The war memorial outside Hessle Church records the names of men who did not return to Hessle after that conflict. It seems appropriate to place that list of names on this website at this time.
Patrick Howlett has, with his son, compiled a Hessle Roll of Honour with full details of these men.
Hessle War Memorial 1914-18
Acey Walter
Almond Walter
Bayston Alfred
Bayston Fred
Beadle Arthur
Beadle Henry S
Bell James
Bennett Charles E
Bielby Norman
Bilsdon Arthur
Blagg Arthur
Blagg Stanley
Blakeston George L
Bontoft Herbert
Bontoft James
Brett Albert
Burton Charles
Chadwick Albert L
Clark Alfred H
Clark John
Cleaver James
Collishaw E Edward
Cotton Frank E
Crombie John
Curtis Colin T
Curtis Robert
Dearing Richard
Dickenson Charles
Earle E Clifford
Edwards John
Ellis William
England Edward
Forbes Joel S
Fussey Edgar
Gale Edgar O
Gibson John W
Goddar Horace
Graves C E Teddie
Gray George W
Harness Sidney
Harness William
Harrison Ernest
Hart Richard E
Hillerns Oswald
Hinson Leslie
Jackson Frederick
Jessup George H
Jewitt Sydney
Johnson Albert
Johnson J W George
Jones Reginald P
Lowthorpe H Arthur
Manley F Cyril C
Manley William E
Mathison Alan
McKinley William H
Monkman Ernest W
Nicholson Randolph
Nicholson T Hamilton
Oughtred Harold
Palmer John W
Parker Walter
Platt Harold
Platt Percy
Plummer John R
Poulter Frank
Raettig Ralph A
Rawson Fred
Robinson Alfred
Robinson Charles O
Robinson Ernest V
Robinson G Herbert
Sharp Albert
Sharp Harry L
Shepherdson James W
Sibborn David
Sibborn Tom
Simpkins J Reginald
Slater James
Speck John W
Spittlehouse Thomas
Stevenson Harry
Sutton Arthur J
Teale Arthur
Tennison Cyril F
Tether George W
Tulley William
Tune C Walter
Tune H Douglas
Tyson Joseph T
Usher Charles W D
Walker Alfred
Wardle Alfred
Wardle John
Ware Horace
Waugh Robert J
Wharton William J
Whittingham A Stanley
Whydle Bert
Wilson William
Wood Robert
Wood Samuel
Wray Harold A
Wray Thomas
They shall grow not old
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
From Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, written in September 1914
James Bontoft
The first Hessle man to fall in World War 1 was James Bontoft of Grovehill.
Private Bontoft was a career soldier who had served for eight years in India before the war. James served in the 1st East Yorkshire Battalion and went to Belgium as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He died on September 29th 1914, probably at the Battle of the Aisne.
James Bontoft was born around 1885/6; he was unmarried and lived with his brothers. He was the son of William and Sarah Bontoft and had several brothers and sisters:
Sarah Jane b 1870
George b 1881
William b 1885
Arzullah b 1882
Ethel b 1883
Martin b 1880.
Lt Colonel J R Pease
Joseph Robinson Pease was the third of the family to carry this name. He was born in January 1873 and married Nony Isabel Colvile (who was eight years younger) at Wolverhampton in 1899. It seems that they had three children, Nony in 1900, Humphrey in 1902 and Heyrick in 1906. Joseph joined the Royal Garrison Artillery, and like his grandfather, attained the rank of Hon Lieutenant-Colonel. He but was died on 17 May 1915. His body was returned to Hessle for burial in the cemetery.
The 1911 census records Joseph and Nony at a rental flat in London but Pease gives his postal address as Hesslewood House. A 1912 Directory records Hesslewood House as still being in the possession of J R Pease but by 1918 it is unoccupied though in the possession of Mrs Pease, who was also one of the major landowners in Hessle.
Lt Col G H Shaw, VD
Another man who is not recorded on the Hessle war memorial is G H Shaw. At the time of his death his address was North Ferriby but he had lived in Hessle for several years prior to the war.
George H Shaw was born in Hull in 1865. He was the son of John and Eliza Shaw and was educated at Hull College, and in France, Denmark and Germany. John Shaw was a European Merchant. He was married to Clara Ann Ingleby and they had four boys named Arthur, Edward, Philip and Frank. In 1901 they are recorded at Riverslea on Southfield, Hessle but later moved to Briar Garth, North Ferriby. In business Shaw joined the corn merchants Shaw, Son and Company in 1882 and became a partner in 1887. George is listed as a Corn Merchant in the 1901 census.
In January 1883 he enlisted in the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment as a private but by December he had taken a commission as a Lieutenant. In 1892 he was promoted to Captain, in 1898 to the rank of Honorary Major and in October 1904 to Honorary Lieutenant Colonel. By 1914 he was the Battalion Commander of the 4th Battalion.
George Shaw was killed in action at St Julien in 1915. On April 22nd the war took on a frightening new aspect for it was then, at about 5 p m that the Germans launched the first gas attack on the western front as part of the second battle of Ypres. The battalion was located near Ypres where they were engaged in battle at St Julien. On the banks of the Yser canal the 4th Battalion suffered its first casualties, on the 24th April when four men were wounded. In the evening two platoons of D Company, EYR, led by Lt Col G H Shaw attacked the enemy. During the fighting Shaw was shot through the head by a sniper. He was one of seven Lieutenant-Colonels of the East Yorkshire Regiment to be killed in the war. Shaw does not seem to have been decorated for his wartime service, nor even mentioned in despatches.
Shaw is recorded on the Menin Gate memorial at Ypres in Belgium. Although he is recorded as George Hubert Shaw by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission he was listed as George Herbert on the original enlistment records of the 4th East Yorkshire Volunteers Battalion in 1883. His name is not recorded on the North Ferriby War memorial nor on Hessle War Memorial.
