The Conisbrough and Denaby 100 Project

Thomas Hendley

Thomas Hendley died on the 27th October 1916 in hospital in Dundee, as a result of wounds sustained at the front. He went missing on the 26th September, and wasn’t found until the 28th, badly wounded. Thomas would have followed the route back through CCS, potentially to a base hospital further behind the lines and eventually back on a hospital ship to Britain. As beds were scarce, men were sent wherever a bed was available and Thomas ended up in Dundee. Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries a month after being wounded. His body was returned to Denaby and he was buried in Denaby Cemetery with a detachment from the Royal Defence Corps in attendance.

 

Thomas was born in around 1888 to Thomas Hendley and Sarah Hadley who both hailed from Staffordshire and married in around 1880 in Yorkshire. In 1891 the family were living at 24 Hawshaw(?) Terrace, in Hoyland Nether, which is today known just as ‘Hoyland’. The couple have just two children; Thomas and his elder sister Mary. Thomas Snr was a Coal miner, and Thomas was born at ‘Handsworth’ – likely the Handsworth which sits between Woodhouse and Darnall in Sheffield today, beside the Sheffield Parkway. Thomas is listed as being 2 years old, and as the census was taken on 5th April, that puts his date of birth in the latter portion of 1888 (post April).

 

A decade later in 1901 the family have moved to Denaby and are living at 96 Annerley Street. Thomas, now 41 is still working in the mines, and the family have had two further children; daughters Dora and Priscilla who were both born in Normanton, showing that the family moved around a little as was normal at that time.

 

By 1911 the family has again moved, ad expanded. The couple are now living at 61 Barnborough Street at Denaby, and whilst Mary, Thomas and Dora have left home Priscilla (aged 13) is still living with her parents along with younger siblings Charlotte, who is 10 and William, who is just seven. Thomas Snr is still working as a miner, and the census shows the couple have been married approximately 31 years. The couple also shows, sadly that Sarah had borne 12 children, but only six had survived.

 

Thomas himself was living as a Boarder in 1911, in Thurnscoe. He is the only boarder living with John Hendley, his wife Emma, their children, their two nephews and a servant. This could be Thomas’ uncle but his status as ‘Boarder’ against two clearly marked ‘Nephew’ is unclear. He is 22, and working as a Coal Miner.

 

Although his enlistment papers have been lost, Thomas joined the 9th Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). In late September 1916 the battalion was in the Fricourt area of the Somme. On the 22nd September in the late afternoon they had moved to Delville Wood, and at 8pm they relieved the 12th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers in support (second line) trenches, where they remained throughout the 23rd and 24th until around 10pm when they withdrew back behind Switch Trench, and dug in.

 

At midday on the 25th, the 64th Brigade attacked, with the 9th Battalion KOYLI in support. The 10th KOYLI, who had gone before them failed to gain a lot of their objectives, and the 9th, who moved up behind the attack managed to gain the original front line.

 

On the 26th September 1916, the day which Thomas was wounded, the battalion started the day in the front line trenches where they had consolidated the evening before. AT around 8:30am the Germans opposing the brigade surrendered, and by 2pm the battalion had been ordered to advance and occupy Gird Support (a major German trench). Unfortunately Gird Support was not found, and the battalion dug a line connecting several shell craters. At 6pm the battalion advanced and took up a line on the road with the Welsh Guards on the right, and the 15th DLI (Durham Light Infantry) on the left. At 8pm, the battalion were relieved by the 12th Northumberland Fusiliers, who they had in turn relieved  four days earlier. The battalion marched back to the transport lines near Trones Wood, and went into bivouacs - ‘bivvy’ - tents .

 

What happened precisely to Thomas is difficult to identify, however the battalion were on the move through much of the 26th, and it’s most likely he was wounded during either the 2pm or 6pm advances.

 

He was found two days later (it was not uncommon for men to remain lost and wounded in no man’s land; there was no time to help a wounded man during an advance or retreat, and if it was a particularly ‘hot’ area, it would not have been possible for men to be easily retrieved after dark until the action had died down.

 

At the time of his CWGC headstone being erected in the mid 1920s both Thomas Snr and Sarah were dead; Thomas died in mid 1921 at the age of approximately 61, and Sarah died in mid 1916, just a few months before her son at the age of 55. Thomas’ brother provided the inscription (and presumably, the funds for the inscription) on his headstone which reads,

 

“God Bless You Dear Brother, You Did Your Duty Well

Rest In Peace”