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Lancashire North Despatch Issue 7: May 2011

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Ninety four years ago in April/May 1917 the battles raged east of Arras. The cover image (IWM ref Q6228) of British troops boarding buses at Arras after returning from the capture of Monchy-le-Preux was used on the covers of "Cheerful Sacrifice" by Jonathan Nicholls published in 1990 and "Lancashire's Forgotten Heroes" by Stephen Barker and Chr...

17 May 1917 : Gnr Dennis Albert Holgate

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Born in Draughton, Yorkshire in 1898, Dennis was the son of Joseph Holgate (a limestone quarryman) from Yorkshire and Elizabeth. At the 1901 Census three-year-old Dennis was living with his parents in Draughton, North Yorkshire with his 9 month old brother Frederick and two boarders who both worked in the quarry alongside Joseph. At the 1911 Ce...

30 June 1917 : Cpl Alex Robert Colman

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Born at Tranmere, Cheshire on 15 April 1897, Alex was the son of Robert (a coffee shop proprietor) and Annie. Alex moved to Montgomery County, Indiana, USA in 1912 He then moved to Canada, where he gained employment as a stenographer. He enlisted into the Canadian Army at Port Arthur, Ontario on 13 September 1915. He trained at Port Arthur and...

19 October 1917 : Gnr. Henry Clark, 50th Bde, Royal Field Artillery

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HHenry Clarke was born in Burnley, Lancashire in 1897.He was a weaver at Queensgate Mill, Burnley prior to enlistment. He enlisted into the RFA in Blackburn on 22nd October 1915 and, after a year of training in the UK, embarked for service on the Western Front on 19th October 1916. After seeing action during the latter stage of the Battle of the...

Ep. 24 – The First Battle of the Scarpe (Arras) April 1917 – Jim Smithson

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Jim Smithson discusses his latest book A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe April 9-14 1917 (Solihull: Helion 2017 (Wolverhampton Military Studies)) which examines the opening phase of the Battle Arras. Your browser does not support the audio element....

11 April 1917: Lieut. Arthur Pole Godfrey

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Arthur Godfrey was born at 41 Devonshire Place, Portland Place, London 7 Feb 1879, the only son of Charles Godfrey and Evelyn (née Browne). He was educated at Chigwell School and at a school in France. He was good at football, cricket and tennis. Age 20, he went to Ceylon 1899 and eventually became a partner in a Tea Plantation. He joined the...

12 April 1917: L/Cpl. William Lennox Farquharson Holland

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William Holland was born on 3 September 1885 in the Bombay Presidency. His parents were Henry and Hannah (née Jopp) of 27 Eaton Rise, Ealing. He was the grandson of General H W Holland. William was educated at Tonbridge School. Employed on the staff of the London County & Westminster Bank and subsequently on the staff of the National Bank o...

The Cavalry at Monchy-le-Preux

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The Battle of Arras started on 9 April, Easter Monday, 1917. The most famous action in this battle is the storming of the heights of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps on the left of the British attack. Success elsewhere on the front was good, if not quite so spectacular. Cyril Falls (who wrote the volume of the Official History covering 1917) st...

Nobody of any importance

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"Nobody of Any Importance" - Phil Sutcliffe Sam Sutcliffe served at Gallipoli, on the Somme, at Arras, and was taken POW during the 1918 Kaiserslacht. His son, Phil, will be reading from Sam's personal memoir of his time during the Great War and of his impoverished in London.

Dawn Commemoration of the Battle of Arras 2024

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Image: Lt John Brooke - This is photograph is Q 5113 from the collections of the IWM - Troops of the 10th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers waiting in Arras for the order to move up, 9 April 1917. In the early hours of the morning of 9th April 1917, the Battle of Arras commenced with 24,000 British soldiers emerging from the protection of underground...

Vimy Ridge Day 2024

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The Government of Canada will be holding a commemoration event at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial at 3pm on Tuesday 9th April 2024. This will mark the 107th Anniversary of the Canadian Corps’ magnificent action in capturing Vimy Ridge in the early days of the Battle of Arras. The memorial, designed by Walter S. Allward and unveiled by King E...