Barnsley, Sheffield Road Baptist Roll of Honour (postcard)

 

Sepia Postcard Roll of Honour (seen on E-bay)

Description:

This postcard was spotted on E-bay in September 2018 (someone was bidding on it then and the link is now dead, May 2020). It consists of a frame of standard First World War images - at the top four men as a Stretcher Bearer, Soldier, Sailor and Airman posed in front of crossed flags (neither is the Union Flag) and in the background on either side a gun on a carriage and a battleship. The centre is surronted by a scroll effect and has the words 'The Roll of Honour' running through a laurel weath at the very top, then the title and names are displayed, and at the base a soldier in a kilt runs in from the left, whilst a cavalry man on horseback is shown on the right - between the two are the words EUROPEAN WAR 1914 - [blank].

The brass war memorial tablet for this church can be seen on the Barnsley War Memorials Project's site. It lists 19 names which are not all included in the Roll of Honour seen here. That suggests that the card above was produced during the war.  It might be possible to give a better date if all the names were researched and compared to the enlistment dates of the men on the war memorial.

Title:

Sheffield Rd Baptist Church Barnsley

Names:

Sergt. J.W.Alldred - Barnsley 2nd Batt.

Lce-Corpl. H Ashworth - K.O.Y.L.I.

Gunner Bailey - H.M.S. Colussus.

Pte. F. Bailey - Barnsley Batt.

Gunner C.S. Barham - Warwickshire R.H.A.

Pte. W. Barton - Sherwood Foresters.

Pte A. Betchetti - R.N. Barracks Devonport.

Pte. Bird - Leeds "Bantams".

Pte. W. Bygate - Barnsley 2nd Batt.

Driver Carew - A.S.C.

Pte. C. Cookson - Barnsley 2nd Batt.

Pte. G.E. Davie - Scottish Borderers.

Pte. E. Hardisty - Barnsley 2nd Batt.

Pte. H. Latchem - Barnsley 2nd Batt.

Pte. MacDevitt - Barnsley 1st Batt.

Lce.-Corpl. Makepeace - K.O.Y.L.I.

Lce.-Corpl. Mawson - Northumberland Fusiliers

Pte. T.R.Mindham - Army Vetry. Corps

Pte. F. Osborne - R.A.M.C.

Leading Stoker C. Osborne - H.M.S. Leven.

Pte. A. Parkin - Barnsley 1st Batt.

Pte. C. Porrill - Army Vetry Corps

Lce.-Corpl E. Senior - R.F.A.

Sergt Sowden - Y & L Regt.

Pte. Stanley - Barnsley 1st Batt.

Buglr. C. Taylor - K.O.Y.L.I.

Pte. J. Williams - Royal Engineers

The fact that men from the 2nd Barnsley Battalion, that is 14th York & Lancaster, are listed on the Roll of Honour indicates that it was drawn up after 9th December 1914 (See 'Barnsley Pals' by Jon Cooksey)

An initial analysis has shown that five of the men on this Roll of Honour appear on the church's war memorial.

Ernest Hardisty Private 14/235 14th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment Missing Presumed Dead 1 July 1916

Frank Leslie Bailey Private 13/143 13th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment Killed in Action 1 July 1916

John Betchetti Private 3666 6th Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) Missing Presumed Dead 1 August 1916

Robert Ernest Bird Lce Corp 115212  193rd Coy Labour Corps (previous Pte 1189 17th West Yorks) Missing Presumed Dead 25 September 1917

Milton McDevitt Private 13/612 13th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment Died of illness 1 October 1918

However some of the other men killed named on the war memorial would also have been enlisted by December 1914. There are another 1st Barnsley man, Charles Henry Hirst, and two more 2nd Barnsley men, James Lever and John William Scholey on the war memorial list.  Even using this very rough guide we have already found a problem with the analysis.  The earliest death on the war memorial is Horace Hobson Pte 2320 1st/5th York and Lancs (the Territorial Battalion) who was killed in action on 12 June 1915 - why is he not on the Roll of Honour? The Territorials had been in uniform long before the war began.

It must be remembered that the usual ways for names for rolls of honour and memorials to be collected was by the family submitting them on hearing of a project or by door to door enquiries by local volunteers. When the collection of names for the Roll of Honour pictured above was made maybe some of the families didn't hear about it or decided not to submit their son, husband, or father's name.

Despite being a Roll of Honour (RoH) connected to a church this does not necessarily mean that all the men listed worshipped there.  A name might have been put forward by a parent or wife (or a wife's family) who worshipped there - so it might yet be possible for men listed on RoH to be found to have been killed and NOT remembered on the Baptist Church war memorial.

BWMP #BAR75