This page is dedicated to the men with links, either by birth, family or residence, to Stillington and Marton who fought in The Great War.

 When researching the lives of the soldiers and sailors who served their country between 1914 and 1918 it is much easier to find details concerning those who died than those who survived the conflict. The purpose of this page is to help redress the balance, to both remember the fallen, as is fit, but also to salute the ones who came back.

If you have any material related to WWI- photographs, postcards, letters, presscuttings etc - we would be most grateful to receive it for our village archive. You will retain possession of any material you are willing to share. See our copyright page for details and how to contact us.

Below is a list of those men honoured on the war memorial in St Nicholas' Church, Stillington. The last three names were added due to research undertaken for a book on Stillington for the Millennium. The book can be read on the Stillington Village website (see links).

* Indicates a photograph of this individual at the bottom of the page

Private Frank Atkinson - 27761, 9th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers. Formerly 23876, The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.            

Born 1891 Half Moon Cottage, Marton Bridge. Parents John and Sarah. Farmworker. Frank enlisted at York. He saw service in Egypt and then France where he died of wounds 1/10/1916. Buried Contay War Cemetery, Contay, France. 

Private George Borwell  -  34296, Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment.  Formerly Driver T/2/72731, The Royal Army Service Corps. 

Born 1894 Stittenham, near Sheriff Hutton. Parents William and Priscilla. Enlisted 23/9/1914 aged 19 at York. Farmworker. Killed in action 12/9/1918. Commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial. George's army record describes him as 'a well thought of individual deserving of any credit due to him'. Whilst a Driver for The Royal Army Service Corps he was mentioned in dispatches.

Sergeant Fred Burks -   3891, 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1883 Millington. Parents James and Hannah lived on The Green at Stillington. Professional soldier. Married with a child. As a private Fred took part in the First Battle of Ypres. Killed in action 6/5/1918. Commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Gunner John Cooper - 80718, 'A' Battery 70th Brigade Royal Field Artillery.

Born 1895 Humberton. Parents James and Charlotte, who lived at Sutton on the Forest. Killed in action, by a German shell, 20/2/1916. Buried Vermelles British Cemetery.

George Cutler - no information at this time.

Private Reginald Dight  - 124218, Machine Gun Corps. Formerly 341489, The Northumberland Fusiliers.

Born 1885 Sutton on the Forest. Mother Eliza lived in Stillington, in a cottage which stood where the present Primary School now stands. Reggie worked on local farms as a horseman.  He enlisted at Richmond whilst living at Thirsk. Killed in action 26/3/1918. Honoured on the Arras Memorial.

*Private Robert Henry Gibson  - 4284, Yorkshire Dragoons Yoemanry (Labour Corps)

Born 1891 Stillington. Parents Tom and Annie ran Stillington Mill. Died of illness in Beverley Military Hospital 27/10/1918 aged 27. Buried Stillington Churchyard, where the fine gravestone seen below marks his resting place.

Able Seaman William Hammond - J/10508, Royal Navy H.M.S 'Bulwark'.

Born 1894 Little Weighton. Grandmother Ann Lane ran a farm on Stillington Green. Killed 26/11/1914 when H.M.S 'Bulwark' exploded, probably due to an accidental ignition in the shell magazine, while anchored off Sheerness, Kent. Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Private Arthur Hobson - 27871, 7th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1893 Terrington. Parents Daniel and Margaret lived at Stillington. Killed in action 24/5/1917 aged 23. Commemorated on the Arras Memorial.

Corporal William Kay - 23879, 9th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

Born 1897 Stillington. Mother Ruth, nee North,  lived at Wire Cottage, Stillington. Died 22/3/1918 aged 21. Honoured on the Pozieres Memorial.

Private Arthur North - 19733, 4th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1890 Stillington. Parents Tom and Eliza. William Kay's cousin. Died 2/6/1916. Buried Stillington Churchyard: this gravestone, simple but beautifully carved, marks the place.

Sergeant Thomas John Scaife - 27041, Royal Engineers 100th Airline Division. Res. Signal Corps.

Born 1878 Easingwold. Parents Thomas and Elizabeth lived at Stillington in the house now known as Kirkside Cottage, opposite the church. Lived Gateshead. Married with three daughters - Jane, Eva and Margaret . Telephone line engineer, foreman. Airline Division constructed and repaired overhead telephone lines. Tom was awarded The Medal of St George (2nd Class) in August 1915 whilst serving as a Sergeant in the Cavalry Division of The Signal Corps. Died of wounds received 18/8/1916 aged 38. Buried Bailleul Communal Cemetery.

* Private John Henry (Harry) Thompson - 32596, 1/4th (Hallamshire)Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment.

Born 1897 Sutton on the Forest. Parents John, a carpenter, and Mary Elizabeth lived at  Ashfield Cottage in Stillington's Main Street. Killed in action 14/3/1918 aged 21 in France. Commemorated on the Tyne Cott Memorial and on the gravestone of his grandparents, Henry and Isabella Thompson, located in Stillington Churchyard.

Private William Sowray - 42614, 12th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1898 Askham Bryan, where his father Thomas then farmed. Later moved to Stillington, his parents lived on The Green. Living at Ampleforth on enlistment. Killed in action 26/9/1917. Honoured on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Private Alfred Norman Stubbs - 44184,18th Battalion Manchester Regiment.

Born 1893 Manchester. Father Joseph Barker Stubbs, a joiner, lived on The Green. Enlisted Prestwich, Lancs, where his family had lived for some years. Killed in action 12/10/1916. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Private Fred Waite - 20573, 10th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1892 Carlton Husthwaite. Parents John and Mary Jane lived at Marton Bridge. Enlisted at Malton. Died of wounds 22/4/1916 aged 24. Buried La Neuville Communal Cemetery, Corbie.

There are other men who would fit the opening description on this page but who are not listed on Stillington's memorial because they have been honoured elsewhere.

Lance Corporal (Edward) Hills Bamber - C/12017, 21st Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps

Born 1887 Oswaldkirk where father Thomas ran The Malt Shovel Inn, which had been previously run by his maternal grandfather Edward Thorpe. Mother Sally later moved to Stillington and was living there at the time of Hill's death. He died of wounds received 21/9/1916. Buried St Sever Cemetery, Rouen and is remembered on the Roll of Honour in St Michael's Church, Coxwold .

Lance Corporal Walter Hammond - 27962,16th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. Formerly with The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

The second Hammond brother, born 1896 Escrick. Enlisted Leeds where resident, mother Annie living there. Awarded Military Medal. Died of wounds 1/3/1918 Proven Germany. Buried Mendinghem Cemetery, Belgium.

The youngest, and the only survivor, of the three Hammond brothers, Fred, emigrated to Canada. 

Private Rowland Garfield Hayes -  26275, 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1892 Farlington. Parents John and Mary. Rowland enlisted at Stillington on 20/11/1915. Killed in action 22/3/1918. Honoured on the Pozieres Memorial and with a stained glass window in St Leonard's Church, Farlington.

Corporal William Milner Wood - 10999, 9th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1884 Stillington. Parents Richard and Henrietta had lived on The Green, then West Lane, before first moving to Bridlington then to Hull. William had been a professional soldier - in 1901 he was Trooper William Wood, in barracks at Windsor. He re-enlisted at Hull and was killed in action 22/8/1915 aged 31 at Gallipoli. Commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey and at Hull.

Private William Frank Yorke -  32454, York and Lancaster Regiment.

Born  1890 Marton Lordship. Parents Thomas and Margaret Elizabeth lived in Stillington. Killed in action 4/4/1918 aged 28. Honoured on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

The Carlton Cousins from Marton Lordship.

Lance Corporal (Thomas) William Carlton - 26102, 22nd Tyneside Scottish Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. Formerly 5/41150, The 80th Reserves.

Born 1877. Parents Thomas and Kate had lived at Marton Barracks. William was living Gosforth Park, Northumberland when he joined up. Killed in action 5/6/1917. Honoured on the Arras Memorial and Dringhouses War Memorial.

Lance Corporal Percival Carlton - 14362, 12th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment.

Born 1896. Parents Thomas and Emily Frances moved from Marton to Tang Hall near York. Percy was living at Escrick when he enlisted. Killed in action 27/9/1915 aged 19. Commemorated on the Loos Memorial and in The King's Book.

And to some of those who came back...

Tom, Charlie and Doris Borwell. Three of George's siblings. Charlie served with The 14th Hussars in the Middle East and India. Tom was in training with The Yorkshire Regiment at the end of the war and escaped the horrors of the front. Doris joined The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, a body which freed men for active service by taking on non active roles in the army such as administration and driving duties.

Edward Candler, a joiner who worked for Mr Hugill. Edward served in The Tank Corps.

Percy Dight, Reggie's younger brother. He served with distinction as a Sergeant with the 30th Brigade of The Royal Field Artillery. He was mentioned in dispatches twice and  was awarded the Military Medal (Oct 1916) and the Distinguished Conduct Medal (July 1918). He married Mary Musgrave from Moor Monkton. They had five children, naming their eldest son Reginald.

Lawrence Fothergill, an Easingwold lad who moved to Stillington.

(Thomas) Yates Hardy, who came from Aldborough near Hull and served with The East Riding Regiment. He married local girl Norah Metcalfe and farmed at Craven Farm, Marton.

Thomas Henry Harrowsmith, who enlisted in The Royal Field Artillery whilst living at Stillington and served as a Gunner. Before his enlistment Thomas was a butcher. Thomas' records show that he was on the Silver War Badge list which indicates he was discharged due to illness or a wound.

Arthur Heslop was born and lived in Stillington. He was a tailor, like his father. He joined The Yorkshire Regiment and served as a Private.

*William Howland, who was a Driver with The Royal Field  Artillery. Willie was born and raised in Stillington.

John Best Hutchinson, who came to Stillington after the war to run the BATA store. John was born in Slingsby. He enlisted there into the 11th Battalion of The Yorkshire Regiment in 1916 aged 21.

Adolph Knowlson of Erimus Cottage. Adolph was born in Middlesbrough where his father, Frederick, had been a police inspector for some years. On Frederick's retirement the family moved to Stillington, buying a house in the High Street which was renamed 'Erimus' (We shall be) after the motto of Middlesbrough Town. Adolph was a Sergeant in The Royal Engineers.

Sidney Pickering, from Spella Farm, Marton, who served with the Royal Army Service Corps as a Driver. He enlisted in 1914 and saw service in France.

Arthur Major Richardson, born 1897 Stillington, son of Harry, a farmer, and Minnie. Arthur served as a Gunner  with the Royal Artillery Garrison so didn't see action on the battlefield. He died aged 25 in 1923.

*Robert Scaife, brother of Thomas John, who served with The 12th Infantry Battalion of The Australian Imperial Force. ^He enlisted in Australia on 10/9/1914 and embarked in November 1914 from Fremantle in Western Australia to sail to Egypt for training before  joining the conflict . He returned to Australia in May 1916. Also their sister Maud's husband, George Crawford, who served with the 6th Battalion of The Yorkshire Regiment. George was a shipwright's son from Scarborough.

Fred Scaife, cousin of T.J and Robert, who served with The Royal Engineers with the rank of Sapper. Fred was a joiner in civvy life.  He was married, and his son Norman was only a few months old,  when he was called up in 1916.

* Walter Smith, a Stillington lad. Walter farmed Church Farm in Stillington Village. He married Elsie Elizabeth (Lizzie) Cundall from Huby, where Walter was living when he enlisted in The Yorkshire Regiment, and they had three daughters.

Thomas (Tom) Spruce, born Stillington. He served his apprenticeship as a bricklayer with Woods the builders, later moving to Sutton on the Forest. Tom was on the reserved list and was called up to join The Royal Engineers in 1915.

Harry Ernest Yorke, William Frank's younger brother. He was a Private in The Yorkshire Regiment before transferring to The York and Lancaster. After the war he was a farmer. He married  Ethel May Cundall from Huby, a younger sister of Walter Smith's wife,  and he named his first son after his lost brother.

Arthur Young, born 1885 Stillington. Arthur joined the Yorkshire Hussars in 1911 at Easingwold.  He was discharged in 1916 having served in France.

 ^ Information courtesy of The AIF Project.

John Henry ( Harry ) Thompson Harry pictured on the left in army uniform, with sisters Mary, Mabel and brother Donald, picture dated 1918. Sadly the last photograph of Harry.	Robert Scaife Posing outside Mowbray House, Long Street, Easingwold whilst on leave.
Robert Henry Gibson	Walter Smith Walter Smith, taken on his wedding day.
William Howland