Harold Gidley 1891 - 1918

Harold Gidley was a Sergeant in the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding)Regiment, 1st/4th Battalion. He was killed in action on April 3, 1918 in the Ypres area.
Harold was another of the eight children of Herbert Gidley and Alice Maud Mary Anne nee Collinson. His brother William, younger by two years, had been killed in 1916. Harold was the oldest son. He was therefore also one of the Gidleys who could trave their ancestry back to Dean Prior in Devon. In 1911 he was a labourer at the local dyeing factory, as was his brother William.
Both he and his brother made a success of army life, as both were promoted to the rank of sergeant. According to his army service record he arrived in France on April 15, 1915, serving, presumably as a volunteer, with the Royal Army Medical Corps. A year later, on April 8, 1916, he joined the BEF. He therefore spent two years fighting and three years in uniform. He was awarded the 15 Star, the Victory and the British medals. According to the Wartime Memories Project website his regiment was in action in the Battles of the Somme in 1916. In 1917 it was involved in the Operations on the Flanders Coast and the The Battle of Poelcapelle during the Third Battle of Ypres. In 1918 the regiment was in action during the Battles of the Lys, but that didn't start until six days after Harold was killed, so he is unlikely to have been killed in a major battle. He is buried in the Aeroplane Cemetery, in Ypres, so-called because it held the wreck of a crashed aeroplane at one time. The cemetery is pictured above. The aeroplane was where the Cross of Sacrifice now stands.