243810 Pte. Joseph Sykes O'Hara British Army 2/7th Btn. Duke of Wellingtons (West Riding Regiment) from:Slaithwaite (d.27th Nov 1917) Joseph O'Hara was born on 27th February 1894 at Causeway Foot, Lingards near Slaithwaite, son of Roger and Maria O'Hara. Before the war, he worked at the Slaithwaite Spinning Company. He enlisted at Milnsbridge on 16th November 1915. The 2/7th Btn went to France in January 1917. The Battalion was involved in the Battle of Cambrai. On 20th November after the tanks had left their hiding place in Havrincourt Wood, the 2/7th proceeded to Havrincourt village, Graincourt, Anneux and were close to Bourlon Wood when the Battalion was relieved on 22nd November. The Battalion returned to Bourlon Wood on Sunday 25th November. On 26th November orders were received for an attack on Bourlon village the following day. The objective for the 2/7th was the easterly arm of the village bounded on the north by the railway line. The Battalion progressed to reach two factory buildings at the eastern end of the village. Heavy machine gun fire from the railway cutting made further progress impossible and the Commanding Officer decided to withdraw to a spur in the wood immediately behind the factories and remained there until 3.45pm when the Germans launched a counter-attack from the west and the north. When this position became untenable the Battalion withdrew into the body of the wood. During the course of the action on 27th November 1917, Joseph Sykes O'Hara was killed. He was 23 years old. Joseph has no known grave and is one of 7048 soldiers commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing at Louverval. His name is also recorded on the Slaithwaite War Memorial, in the Book of Remembrance at the Regimental Chapel in York Minister and on the Rolls of Honour at the Holy Family Church, Slaithwaite and St Paul's Drill Hall, Huddersfield.
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