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Cpl. Robert Henry Leggott
British Army 4th Btn. Grenadier Guards
from:Commondale, North Yorkshire
(d.25th Sep 2016)
The first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st of July 1916, is known as the worst day in the history of the British Army, with nearly 60,000 men, all volunteers, killed, wounded or listed as missing. The campaign, which only ended 141 days later, saw more than 400,000 British casualties, and the scarred communities they left behind were determined to mark their loss, erecting memorials to the dead.
Those in Yorkshire show how the war affected almost all communities, from tiny rural villages to the big industrial cities of Bradford, Sheffield and Leeds. Among those receiving Grade II listing from Historic England for the first time is the simple stone marker at Commondale in the North York Moors, that represents the sacrifice of just two men, boyhood friends and fellow shepherds Robert Leggott and Alfred Cockerill.
The pair signed up together in 1914, with Leggott, who was just 17, lying about his age to enlist. He was killed at the Somme on September 25, 2016, and his body was never found. In 1920, Lady Gisborough, who was horrified at the loss of the two local shepherds, had the Shepherd's Memorial erected on Gisborough Moor above the village of Commondale.
Robbie's family continues to farm on the moors to this day, his great-nephew James Johnson being responsible for providing this information.
