224364 Pte. George "Wiggy" Wignall British Army 1/6th Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment from:Bradford (d.3rd July 1916) Having served in the 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and felt the desire to revisit my family's military service history. Knowing my brothers, father and both grandfathers had served before me, I decided to check further records. I found my great uncle George, who none of my family had previously spoken about, due to his death on the 3rd day of the Battle of the Somme. This had induced my great aunt Mercy not to talk about his death. I visited the memorials for all the West Yorkshire soldiers and found uncle George on the Thiepval memorial. This was 98 years after his death.
Having checked the 1/6th history I believed I had the answers to how and where my uncle had died. However, the battalion's diary and proceeding book do not hold true to one another. Uncle George was recorded as being killed on 3rd July 1916 but the 1/6th Battalion West Yorks were at that time in divisional reserve after fighting on the Somme on the days of 1st and 2nd July 1916. There are no records of any deaths for the 1/6th Battalion on the 3rd July 1916 in the battalion's diary, but uncle George is recorded as dying in action on that day. This is a very confusing issue that I hope to resolve before July 2016.
Nec Aspera Terrent (Eternity of rest to each and every military casualty or death).
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