The Conisbrough and Denaby 100 Project
H Shacklock
Harold Shacklock was brown of eye and hair, of sallow complexion and born in late 1883 to James Shacklock, a labourer at the Glassworks who came from Nottingham, and Sarah Ann Singleton, who was born in Tickhill. He was the eighth of nine children born to the couple, the fourth of five sons and sixteen years younger than his eldest brother William Henry, born in 1867 a year after their parents married. Sadly, Harold’s father James died at the age of around 44 on 14th April 1886, just three years after he was born.
On the 1891 census, Harold is living on Doncaster Road with his mother Sarah and the household comprises of himself, mother Sarah Ann, elder brothers George and John who are both apprentices at the Glassworks, elder sisters Martha and Bertha, and younger brother Harry. By 1901, the household has shrunk further but Harold is still living at home on Doncaster Road with his mother, elder brother George and younger brother Harry. All three brothers are working in the Glassworks; by now George is a full blown Glass bottle maker, whilst Harold and Harry are apprentices. It appears their house was a traditional ‘two up two down’ as the census field for ‘Number of Rooms occupied if less than five’ holds the figure 4.
Sadly, in 1908 when Harold was 25 years old, his mother Sarah Ann died. The 1911 census shows Harold living at 6 Dearne Street, still with elder brother George who is now head of the house at the age of 39, and now also with elder sister Alice who doesn’t appear to have married, and younger brother Harry. Also there is a child; eight year old Sallie Shacklock who is listed as a niece to George. Whether she is Alice’s child is unclear. The family also have a boarder living with them; bricklayer’s labourer George Plummer. George Shacklock is still working as a Glass Bottle Blower, but Harold and Harry have now moved jobs and are working in the coal mine.
Harold’s service papers show that he attested into the army in Conisbrough on the 3rd September 1914 at the age of 30. He was 5’ 6 and a quarter inches tall, weighed ten stone exactly and gave his trade as a collier. He was initially given the rank of Private (no. 14270) and was posted to Frensham and finally Aldershot by December 1914.
Harold embarked for France on Saturday 21st August 1915, and his paperwork shows that he had three periods of hospitalisation during his service. Firstly, he
Harold's Medal Index Card (click for larger image)
suffered from ‘Pyrexia’ (fever) in September 1916 for which he was treated in the 2nd General Hospital, Manchester. Apparently immediately after that (he was discharged from Manchester and admitted to Llandrindod on the same day) he was treated for Rheumatism at Rock Park Spa Auxiliary Military Hospital in Llandrindod Wells. Finally, he was treated at Brighton Grove Military Hospital in Newcastle for 63 days at the very end of 1917 for Syphilis.
His paperwork shows that on the 4th September 1916, he was posted to the 8th Battalion York and Lancaster Regimen as a Lance Corporal, but by December, he had been returned to the Depot as a Private. Harold’s punishment record contains a record which appears to say ‘Overstaying his furlough [leave]’ – he was AWOL. The punishment awarded for this transgression was ‘Reverted to Private’.
The punishment record also holds several entries (some entries are crossed out on one of the many versions of the Conduct Sheet, whether he received the punishment or not is unclear but appear to be for smoking a cigarette whilst on parade). Other misdemeanours date from 1915 and include being ‘Unshaven on parade’; for this he received 3 days CB (confined to barracks). Another entry is from two days later for being ‘Absent off night operations’. For this he was given another 4 days CB, and an extra 4 drills. All of these offences (including the cigarette) were witnessed by our very own Sergeant Swaby; whether he felt any remorse at punishing a man from his own village or whether it was all a big joke between the men we’ll never know! There are several sheets containing entries for offences and a further one shows a punishment for ‘Being out of Camp during Parade hours’ and ‘Dirty boots on Parade’. These being witnessed by a different Sgt.
Harold was posted to the Infantry Base Depot in March 1918 and then to the 13th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment; more commonly known as the Barnsley Pals, which he had been posted to on the 13th March. Harold died on 15th May 1918. The 13th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment was the first of two ‘Barnsley Pals’ regiments, the second being the 14th Bn. They were brigaded with the Sheffield Pals (the Sheffield City Battalion, the 12th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment) and the Accrington Pals (11th Bn, East Lancashire Regiment) in the 94th Brigade of the 31st Division. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the Barnsley Pals (both battalions) were the reserve battalions for the Sheffield and Accrington Pals. It is not clear whether Harold was overseas at the time of the battle, but his medal card shows that he first disembarked in France on the 27th August 1915. The battalion war diaries show that they were in the line at the time of Harold’s death, east of Meteren. The diaries are almost illegible but contain a large section relating to overnight on the 15th / 16th May, leaving the line at 12:30am. However, as Harold was killed on the 15th, it is most likely he was already dead. Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify exactly what happened when Harold was killed, however the newspaper at the time reported that he and a number of comrades were killed by the bursting of a shell in the trench. The CWGC lists both Harold and Private B Hartley as having been killed on that day. They are buried side by side in Caestre Military Cemetery, France.
After his death, Harold’s possessions were sent to his younger brother Harry, who also claimed his medals (the Victory, British and 1915 Star) in the early 1920s. Those possessions are listed as ‘Wallet, Photo, Cap Batch, Purse and what appears to read ‘Dice’.
We visited Harold’s grave in 2015 and laid his tribute. A memorial to the Barnsley Pals exists in Sheffield Park on the Somme. We have visited and paid our respects to all our local pals battalions a few times.