Harry Thurlow, Sergeant 15/896, 15th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment
Harry Thurlow was born in Leeds on 18th November 1887. His father Thomas Thurlow, an engine driver, died in 1891, leaving his mother Annie (née Hessell) to bring up Harry and their other children, May (1882-),Tom (1883-) and Fred (1885-). After the death of her husband Annie moved her family from Latham in East Yorkshire to 29 Hawthorn Grove, New Wortley, Leeds. This was the year of the 1891 Census, in which Annie’s occupation was described as ‘Inspecting Cartridges – Final Viewing’. After leaving school Harry served an apprenticeship with Joseph Henry, of Viaduct Road, Leeds, which ended in about 1909 and he was then employed as a moulder in a foundry. By 1901 Annie was living at 20 Angel Street, Leeds with sons Tom, Fred and Harry. In 1911 Tom was a Railway Engine Stoker and Harry an Iron Moulder. He also played rugby league for the Leeds second team and his fitness and knowledge of physical training was to shape his early days when he joined the army. He was small in stature at 5’ 6¼” (the all-important ¼”) in height, 11st 6lbs in weight, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
Harry and Annie Leaf
Harry attested in the Leeds Pals 13th September 1914, age 26, and was promoted as an ‘unpaid’ Lance Corporal in March 1915 but had to wait until July that year before he was paid for his new rank. He served with 12 Section, 15 Platoon, D Company and shortly after promotion he qualified as a Platoon Bomber and Physical Training Instructor (PTI). The Pals were in need of instructors and appointed from within the Battalion if they could. People with a knowledge of ‘Swedish Drill’ were in particular demand. In November 1915 he was elevated to Corporal and a year later to Sergeant, the rank he was to retain until his demobilisation on 1st May 1919, although he was to remain on the Army Reserve Z until 30th March 1920.
He was training with the 15th Battalion in Colsterdale where he was based when, on 25th April 1915, he married Annie Leaf, who was born on 22nd February 1888. The address given on the marriage certificate being ‘at Colsterdale Camp’. At the wedding at St Mary’s Church Leeds Annie wore the Leeds Pals regimental badge on her blouse instead of a flower. Their address was shown as 3 Glencloe View, Easy Road, Leeds. The Battalion then moved to Ripon and on to Fovant on Salisbury Plain before proceeding overseas to Egypt in December 1915, to defend the Suez Canal from the Turkish Forces. In March 1916 the Leeds Pals, which were part of the 93rd Brigade, 31st Infantry Division, transferred to France to prepare for the forthcoming Battle of the Somme.
Harry claimed he was one of the first ‘over the top’ on 1st July 1916 when the Battalion attacked the village of Serre. If so, he was very fortunate to survive as the Leeds Pals suffered badly, losing in excess of 500 men out of the 750 that took part in the assault, including all 24 officers. He remained with the 15th Battalion until it amalgamated with the 17th to form the 15/17th Battalion in December 1917 and was probably present at the Battle of Arras in May 1917, the German Spring Offensive of March 1918 and the final push by the Allies in the autumn of 1918. His one mention in the Battalion War Diary was on 12th March 1918, when the battalion held its sports day and Harry was a dressing room steward. Shortly after that the Germans launched their final assault of the war, the Kaiserschlacht. He was one of the few ‘original’ Leeds Pals to remain with the Battalion and survive the war.
After leaving the Army he worked at Leeds City Tramways (who interestingly used the same cap badge as the Pals) and on 17th January 1920 his daughter May was born; she was later to qualify as a journalist. In 1939 Harry and Annie appeared in the pre-WW2 register, which listed him as employed as a car repairer and she as a tailoress. Their daughter’s entry was later altered to her married name. Harry attended as many Regimental gatherings as he could and was present at the funerals of his Leeds Pals friends.
During the Second World War Harry served in the Leeds Home Guard whilst his daughter May served in the nursing services, where she met and married Aleksander Mulart, a Polish Army Major who was later ordained as a Priest at Ripon Cathedral. May died in Leeds in 1999 age 79.
Harry died at Lower Agbrigg near Wakefield in 1968 age 80.
Sources:
Ancestry – Domestic Records, Service Record and Medal Rolls
Thurlow-Mulart Family – family details
Researchers: David J Owen and Peter Taylor
Please Note:
- All opinions and inferences are the researcher’s own.
- Please refer to our Glossary of Terms for further information on the terms and phrases used in this post.