Private Clifford Baxandall, 12th Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment. Service no. 18/1537.
Previously 18th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (2nd Battalion, Bradford Pals.)
Early life:
Clifford was born in Keighley in 1895, the sixth of eight children of John and Zillah Baxandall. The family was living at Holme House in Oakworth in 1901.
Sadly both John (50) and Zillah (48) died in 1902, leaving the eldest children to raise the rest of the family and so Clifford was an orphan at just 7 years of age. By 1911 they were living at 13, Griff View, Oakworth. Clifford was 16, and working as a plumber.
War service:
In 1915 he enlisted in the 18th (service) Battalion Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment (Second Bradford Pals) under the 31st Division. He would have trained at South Camp, Ripon and then gone to Hurdcott Camp near Salisbury. The division set sail for Alexandria in Egypt to defend the Suez Canal and disembarked in Egypt on 22nd December 1915. Three months later they left Port Said aboard HMT Briton bound for Marseilles in France, a journey which took 5 days, arriving in March 1916.
They travelled by train to Pont Remy, a few miles south east of Abbeville and marched to Bertrancourt arriving on 29 March 1916. Their first taste of action was at Serre on the Somme where they suffered heavy casualties as the battle was launched.
In the same year, Clifford was reported wounded in the local newspaper:
Keighley News 8th July 1916, page 7:
Private Clifford Baxandall, of the West Yorkshire Regiment, and whose home is at Oakworth, has been wounded in action and is at present in hospital. Previous to enlistment he was apprenticed to Mr. John Harrison, plumber, South Street, Keighley.
At some point Clifford was transferred to the 12th (Service) Battalion, probably after returning back to a unit, after recovery from his wounds.
Letter home:
Clifford wrote home just before Christmas 1916 and it reads:
Somewhere amongst the mud.
Dear Sister & all Mon Dec 18 1916.
Just a line to let you know I am in the best of health and hoping this finds you all the same at your house. I suppose you will have heard that I have got to France again and am in the some place as I was before but not with the Pals this time.
I am with the 12th Battalion and my address is 1537 Pte C.B., C. Coy 12 West Yorks. B.E.F., France. We are having some rotten weather here just now and everything is plastered up with mud including myself. I’ve never seen so much mud in all my natural. I used say things about the mud on Salisbury Plain but it was nothing compared with this.
It is knee deep in some places, on the roads even, and when one of those heavy motor lorries passes you, one gets a real mud back. The trenches are worse however as its up to the waist in parts there and I think its a mistake to have the infantry in, it’s an ideal place for the navy at present. I got to know a week or two ago about a new nephew at Laycock. If he doesn’t get on munitions or something like that I might come across him out here about the year 1934. I came across one of Wilson’s pals to-day in the person of Jimmy Holdsworth (Greeny’s brother) his battalion is in our brigade. He is a officers servant, its very nice coming across someone from round about home out here.
I have had some tinned Christmas pudding, it was very nice all we were short of was the rum sauce and a little bit of holly to put on top, but if we can regular I can manage without that. How is Lister going on about having to join up I hope he is able to steer clear for as he’s no doubt aware army life at present isn’t exactly what you may describe as a bed of roses and besides if its ever his fortune to get to this country, I don’t know how he will go on with the French beer, a chap can drown himself in it before being drunk, These beer drinkers say it is spoiling good water making it and like drinking — well a certain obnoxious liquid, I’ll leave you to guess what. I shall have to ring off now but before I do I wish you all a merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. With Kindest Regards, Clifford.
P. S. Am just sending you a card as a souvenir of this place.
The next year he took part in the Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917, and during this time went ‘missing presumed dead’. He was later declared ‘killed in action’ as of the 3rd May along with fifty-two other men from the 12th battalion who were killed on that day. He was 22 years old and has no known resting place.
Clifford is remembered on Bay 4 of the Arras Memorial and on the Oakworth War Memorial in Holden Park, Oakworth and on the Slack Lane Baptist Chapel war memorial at Oakworth Community Hall:
He is also remembered on the Baxandall family grave which is in Slack Lane Baptist Chapel Cemetery.
Clifford was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his services during the war. He left almost £350 in his will to his youngest sister Mary Ellen Waterhouse, the home address given was 37, Commercial Street, Oakworth.
His brothers also served, Foster with the Royal Field Artillery, and Frank with the Army Service Corps.
Keighley News of Saturday 11th May 1918:
IN MEMORIAM
BAXANDALL – In loving memory of my dear pal Clifford Baxandall, who died of wounds in France, May 3rd, 1917.
“The happy hours we once enjoyed, How sweet their memory clings.”
My pal in life; not forgotten in death.
From Tom (wounded, in hospital).
We think this was written by Clifford’s best pal Private Tom Binns, who was in hospital at this time recovering from gassing and possibly wounded. Tom was wounded again in 1918 which invalided him out of the Army, and the war.
Clifford and Tom had their photograph taken together before setting off to war:
Source information:
Birth, marriage and death records.
1901 and 1911 census.
WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
Keighley News archives, Keighley Library.
Photographs supplied by family.
Letters supplied by family.
Grave photo by Andy Wade.
