224228 Sgt. Harry Wild British Army 5th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment from:Padiham, Lancashire (d.12th Apr 1917) Sgt Harry Wild was fatally wounded during the attack on Monchy on or around 9th April 1917 and died of wounds at the clearing station based around Aubigny. He is buried in Aubigny Communal Extension cemetery. He was 32.
A weaver and chorister at Higham church near Padiham, he was already a Sergeant in the 1/5 East Lancs when war broke our and went with them to Egypt in Sept 1914. The regiment became part of the 42nd division which landed at Cape Hellas between 6-8 May 1915. He was wounded, apparently badly and evacuated to Egypt where he was hospitalised for some months. His return date to UK is not known but upon his return he became a recruitment sergeant in Burnley sometime late in 1916. He was granted a discharge as time served in early 1917 and went back to being a weaver.
It seems he got bored and decided to re-enlist in the 1st East Lancs in November 1917, retaining his rank of Sgt. He was shipped to France shortly after and the regiment was in support at the Battle of the Scarpe on the southern flank of Vimy Ridge. I've retraced the regiment's steps from Monreiul village where they left at 0500 on the morning of battle marching almost 12 miles to the front in winter conditions that froze soldiers to death. The regimental diaries talk of a group being hit by a shell which claimed 4 deaths and injured "12 other ranks including NCOs".
Sgt Harry Wild is commemorated on the East Lancs Memorial in Burnley and on the memorial in the grounds of Higham church. His headstone claims simply "One of the best".
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