The youngest son of my Great Grandparents to fight in the First World War was Leonard Squires. Len survived the war and was decorated for gallantry and is mentioned four times in Jacky Coopers excellent book Doing Our Bit. The first entry in the Selby Times is on the 7th December 1917 and reads: Gunner L Squires, Royal Field Artillery, Newport Avenue is home on a fourteen day leave. He is the third son who has joined the forces, his two elder brothers being killed in action. Gunner Squires has been at the front for two years and three months and returns next week. The second announcement is on the 15th February 1918 and reads: Gunner L Squires, son of Mr C Squires, Olympia Cottages, who has been serving with the Royal Field Artillery in the British Expeditionary Force, has been awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre for gallantry in the field. Gunner Squires is 21 years of age and has been in the army for 2 1/2 years. The was then a correction to that announcement on the 22nd February 1918 which reads: In our last issue mention was made of the success of Gunner L Squires, whose home was stated to be Olympia Cottages. Gunner Squires is a son of Mr C Squires, Newport Avenue. The final mention in the Selby Times is on the 13th December 1918 and reads: Bombardier Squires, Royal Field Artillery, son of Mr & Mrs Squires, Newport Avenue, arrived in Selby on Sunday on 14 days leave from France. He is in excellent health, and has served over three years in France without sustaining a wound or having a single days illness. My Great Uncle Leonard Squires was born in Warwickshire in 1896 and moved with his parents (his father was a railway engine driver) to various location in Surrey, Yorkshire and Derbyshire before settling in Selby by 1910. Len enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery in 1915 soon after his 18th Birthday. After military training Len deployed to France on the 26th October 1915 and saw a great deal of action in several major campaigns in both France and Belgium including Loos, The Somme and Ypres, sometimes in the same battles as his brothers Jim and George. Len was awarded the Croix de Guerre for gallantry in the field in 1918. Len survived the war and married Hilda Kettlewell from Thirsk in 1921 and followed in his fathers footsteps and became a railway engine driver for LNER. Len died in 1956 and is buried in the Brayton Road Cemetery in Selby alongside his parents grave which commemorates his two brothers who were killed in action. Lens younger brother, my Grandfather used to tell me that when Len came home on leave from the trenches, his uniform was so infested with lice that his mother used to burn it and send him back in civilian clothes which meant that he was punished for losing his uniform. The only picture I have of Len is the family group I have posted which was taken in 1901. If there are any of the Kettlewell Family out there I would really like to see a picture of Len in later life.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 11:56:27 +0000
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