John Elvin Collett was killed in action on this day in 1917

John was born in 1891 in Castleford in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the war he was employed as a house painter, and lived with his parents in Gomersal.

Married in September 1914 to Florence they set up home in Tulip Crescent, Hunslet (a suburb of Leeds) where a daughter was born in April 1916. Tragically, a son who was born a year later died within days of his birth.

Having originally joined the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment, John later found himself in the Northumberland Fusiliers, being posted to the 23rd Battalion, known as the 4th Tyneside Scottish.

Writing home to his wife and daughter on 10 February 1917, Jack, as he signed himself, told Florence that he "was out of the trenches, and it's a good job too because it's that cold. I think I've never seen a winter like this, they are starving to death in the trenches". (In this context "starving" is a local colloquialism meaning 'very cold').

He goes on to describe how 300 of the men from the 4th Battalion [i.e. Tyneside Scottish] had a football match on the [obviously frozen] river "...just as you was kicking the ball you would go on your back."

John's last letter goes on to refer to a parcel he had just received and enclosed a 'Brigade Card' saying "you will think it's late to send New Year cards but we have only got them today..."

What John failed to mention (even though he must have known about it) was that he was due to be part of a Trench Raid within 24 hours. The raid proved to be very costly, with twenty five men from the battalion being killed.

Of these 25 individuals from the 4th Tyneside Scottish, 22 are recorded as being killed on the 11th and 12th February (17 are recorded as being killed on the 11th with 5 on the 12th February). The other three died of wounds some days later, one of the men killed was John Collett.

Most of the men are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Ploesgsteert, although in recent years a group of graves has been located which - beyond doubt - contain the graves of those who were killed on this trench raid, and will almost certainly include that of John Collett.

Full details of the raid can be found here: 'The Lost Raiders Found': The Tyneside Scottish at Armentières

40682 Pte John Elvin Collett 23rd (Tyneside Scottish) Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers