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| Joseph Greenwood Bancroft |
I came across the following story about Joseph Greenwood
Bancroft, who was killed in the first world war, and although born in Manchester, Lancashire, moved to Yorkshire
with his widowed Mother and the rest of the family after the early death of his
father, who was also called Joseph Greenwood Bancroft.
Joseph Parents, Joseph and Mary Ann were both born in Yorkshire, Joseph from Stanbury near Haworth, and Mary
Ann from Grassington near Skipton, and it looks as though Joseph [snr] moved
over to Arwick near Mancheser, with a job, some time in the 1870’s because census records
show him living with adopted parents in Sutton Yorkshire in 1871. It is pretty
clear from the records that he was illegitimate, so there is no record of a
father but it seems quite possible that his mother was Ann Bancroft b 1821, the
daughter of Joseph and Isabella [nee: Jowett], because she was listed as a single girl and
working in the area at that time, which was well away from the rest of her
family who were living in an area called Cragg Bottom, near Stanbury, which although nearer the Haworth Parish area was geographically in the Keighley Parish.
By 1881 Joseph[snr] was working for a Corn Dealer and living at Ardwick, and when he died in his early 50’s, the family then all moved back to Sutton in Yorkshire , where Joseph [jnr] got a job as a shop assistant in the local Co-Op shop.
By 1881 Joseph[snr] was working for a Corn Dealer and living at Ardwick, and when he died in his early 50’s, the family then all moved back to Sutton in Yorkshire , where Joseph [jnr] got a job as a shop assistant in the local Co-Op shop.
When war was announced in the autumn of 1914, the young men
of the nation came from towns and villages to take the King's shilling and to
offer their dedicated services in defence of their homeland. Young men flooded into the recruiting centres in
answer to their nation's call for young manhood.
Prior to enlistment, Joseph Bancroft was employed as
assistant manager in the grocery department at the Sutton Mill Co-operative
Society.
The West Riding Regiment raised 24 battalions during WW1
including the 1/6th (Territorial Force) battalion at Skipton on 4th August
1914.
The Western Front was the name applied to the fighting zone
in France
& Flanders, where the
British, French, Belgian and later American armies faced that of Germany.
It was marked by a system of trenches and fortifications
separated by an area known as "No Man's land". These fortifications stretched
475 miles and precipitated a style of fighting known as trench warfare. From the moment the German Army moved into Luxembourg on 2nd August 1914 to the Armistice on 11th November 1918, the
fighting on the Western Front in France & Flanders never stopped. Just as there were quiet periods, there were also the most
intense, savage, huge-scale battles the world has ever known.
Having been in France for only 4 weeks, Joseph wrote
the following letter to a friend back home about his experiences in the
trenches so far, which was published in a local newspaper on 21 May 1915.
SUTTON MAN TALKS WITH
THE GERMANS
In a letter to a
friend, Private Joe Bancroft, who before the outbreak of war was employed in
the grocery department at the Sutton Mill Cooperative Society, writes:-
"I have only seen one German yet. I had a pot at him but he
'bobbed'. The Germans use the periscope a good deal,and we do the same.
The troops opposite I fancy are Saxons. They are so quiet. The
last lot were the Prussian Guards, a very noisy lot. One day some of
our fellows shouted across to their trenches, "To ------ with the
Kaiser". The answer came back, "Yes, we say the same. I wish I was back in London." In referring
to the Christmas incident, Private Bancroft says
it was no fable. "One of our soldiers I was speaking with said it
would have happened at Good Friday, but their officer said 'No, you
would be having tea with them.' Last week we were shelled in our
billets and they did some damage. Our aeroplanes seem to do far more
work than those of the Germans, also our artillery. The
aviators are very plucky. The buildings around here are more or less shelled,
and look very dilapidated. It is a shame to see nice farms ruined. If
the people over yonder saw them they would waken up and do their
part to get this job finished. You cannot understand what war is
like until you are in it. I am about three miles from Belgium and if my chance comes, I
will do my bit for poor Belgium. The tales about the German treatment are
all too true."
6 months after arriving in France, Pte Joseph Greenwood
Bancroft was killed in action on the Western Front on the 22nd October
1915 He was 26 years of age.
The local newspaper reported his death on 29 October 1915 as follows:
The local newspaper reported his death on 29 October 1915 as follows:
"DEATH OF PTE. J.
BANCROFT OF SUTTON"
2On Tuesday morning,
Mrs. Bancroft, of Holme
Bridge, Sutton, received news that her
son, Pte. Joseph Bancroft, had been killed in the trenches on
Saturday morning last. Pte. Bancroft was very widely known in the district,
and his death is deeply deplored. Prior to joining the 1st Duke
of Wellington's,
he was employed in the Sutton Mill Co-operative
grocery stores, where his services were greatly valued by the
committee. His courtesy and desire to please were acknowledged and appreciated by its members. Although not a member of the Sutton Baptist
Church, he was a regular
worshipper, and took a great
interest in the Young Men's Bible Class, being treasurer at the time
of joining the army. He is the first connected with the Baptist
Sunday School and Church to lay down his life. His comrades at the front
are greatly distressed at his death. The following has been
received by his mother, with whom great sympathy is felt:-
"Dear Madam, - I am sorry to inform you that your
son, Private J.
Bancroft, was killed in the trenches yesterday (Saturday). He was a
good soldier and always did his work well, and a great favourite with
both officers and men. You will be glad to know
he suffered no pain.
Please accept the deepest sympathy of officers and men of the A
Company, 1st Duke of Wellington's
Regiment. -Capt. Nicholson."
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| Memorial Card [source Andrew Monkhouse] |
Article Date: 05 November 1915
SUTTON - THE LATE PRIVATE JOE BANCROFT
Memorial Service at the Baptist Church
On Sunday morning last, a service to the memory of the late
Pte. Joe Bancroft, of the 1st 6th Duke of Wellington's Regiment, who
was killed in the trenches on Saturday, October 23rd, was held
in the Baptist
Church, the pastor (Rev.
F.W. Pollard) being the preacher. The large congregation was representative of all
denominations in the district, there being present the committee of the Sutton
Mill Cooperative Society, his fellow workers (shop assistants), members of the Bible Class, for who Pte. Bancroft acted as treasurer,
and the 2nd Sutton Troop of Boy Scouts. The service opened with the hymn 'Nearer my God to Thee', followed by the anthem 'There is a
land', under the leadership of Mr. Joseph Overend. The story to the
children of heroic deeds done by the Red Cross Society was very
appropriate to the occasion. Mr. Pollard based his remarks upon the text from John xv.,
13, 'Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his
friends'.
His said: "We are met here this morning to pay tribute
and grateful respect to the memory of our dear friend who has been killed
upon the battlefield, and your presence in such numbers shows how
deeply we all feel his loss. None of us realised it, that he would be
taken. It seemed the last thing in our thoughts that his brief, bright
life should come so soon to a tragic end. He is the first of our brave
lads to fall, and when we heard
the news our hearts were wrung with anguish: all of us loved him. He
was so bright and cheerful in his disposition and a favourite of
all who knew him, young and old alike. He bears a name that we shall remember with thankfulness as long as life lasts. The name of one who
was faithful and true, to the highest and best that was in him, and
in the spirit of our text, cheerfully giving himself for those he
loved and for those who called him friend. In one of the earlier letters received by Mr. Pollard he
wrote: "Before I enlisted I counted the cost, I studied about it no little,
and now, after six months of hard training, if it was to do now I should
just do the same; in fact I don't see how I could do any other way. In
your letter you referred to Mr. Wilson's lads (Lothersdale) being fairly
in at it. It has to be hoped they will come through. If we don't come
back, it's a good cause we are fighting for, and that's worth
something." In another letter, said Mr. Pollard, he showed the true
Christian spirit. In answer to Mr. Pollard's letter he wrote: "As regards
billet life, it is best to be in at it to know. We have all sorts here, all
good-hearted chaps, and so long as you keep straight I think you help
others who have need of it. Some might laugh at you occasionally, but
then . . . . .It does not bother me." "Here," said Mr. Pollard, "you have a spirit
of courage manifested in camp life." In another letter which Mr. Pollard
referred to as showing the self-sacrifice of the man, he wrote: "A few months
ago I never thought I should be in the army, but things have moved fast
since then . . . . As regards credit being given to us it is not
us, but I think it is the mothers that should have it." "These extracts," continued Mr. Pollard,
"speak more powerfully than any words a man could; you all knew him and these words represent the man. He met his death while playing the
handyman, preparing a meal for his comrades, and he died while on an
errand of loving service. Our friend was steadfast to the duties to
which he had given his life, and today we lift up our hearts in gratitude
to God for the life lived, and we pray that his removal may be
sanctified. He entered this conflict because he heard the call of duty. We
pray this example may lead us all to the same fidelity and to manifest
the same spirit, which was the very spirit of Christ Himself who loved
us and gave himself for us." Mr. Pollard closed his address with a special appeal to his congregation to live for the highest and the best. The
service closed with the beautiful hymn 'Brief life is here our portion',
and the playing of the 'Dead March'.
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| Talana Farm War Cemetery |
Talana Farm was one of a group of farm houses named by the
army from episodes of the South African Boer war. The cemetery was
begun by French troops in April 1915, taken over by the 1st Rifle Brigade
and 1st Somerset Light Infantry in June 1915, and was used by fighting units
until March 1918. The Talana Farm Memorial in Belgium bears the names of 529 Commonwealth servicemen of the Great War buried or
commemorated in the cemetery, including the grave of Joseph Greenwood Bancroft.
Joseph Bancroft was
posthumously awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal
The family grave is still there at Sutton Baptist Chapel, where Joseph’s parents were married, and are buried, and where he was also a regular worshipper. The gravestone has an inscription about their son Joseph’s death .
I an grateful to the following websites for some of the information in this article.
Andrew Monkhouse and the Sutton-in Craven Village website on:
http://www.sutton-in-craven.org.uk/
Also the Craven's Part in theGreat War website on:
www.cpgw.org.uk
http://www.sutton-in-craven.org.uk/
Also the Craven's Part in theGreat War website on:
www.cpgw.org.uk
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