Pte. William Henry Gledhill
British Army 1st Btn. Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
from:141 Taylor Street, Batley, West Yorkshire.
My grandfather William Henry Gledhill joined the 4th Battalion King's own Yorkshire Light Infantry Territorial Army in April 1936. He joined the regulars, 1st Battalion KOYLI in July 1936. William served in Gibraltar, Burma and in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force in September 1939 to defend the Belgian-French border. On 10th May 1940 German forces invaded France driving the British forces through Belgium and north-western France, and forcing their eventual evacuation from several ports along the French northern coastline in Operation Dynamo. The most notable evacuation was from Dunkirk. During this time William was captured by German forces and spent the rest of the war in a German prisoner of war camp Stalag VIII-B344 in Lambinowice, Poland. His POW number was 5077. William was forced to work in German coal mines until January 1945. As the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany William, like most prisoners, was marched westward in groups of 200 to 300 in the so-called Death March until he was liberated by Allied forces.
In November 1945 William was medically discharged from military service with chronic bronchitis, arthritis and rheumatism of the knees and ankles. William Henry Gledhill received the 1939–45 Star and War Medal 1939–1945.
