Corporal. Royal Air Force. Number 1092749.
Early life:
Jack was born at Cross Roads in 1922 with his birth registered at Keighley in the third quarter of the year. His parents were Maurice Taylor and Mary Gertrude Taylor née Dixon. They were married at St. James Church, Cross Roads cum Lees on 11th August 1918. Maurice was a motor engineer and fitter for the Vulcan Motor Company at Southport and he and Mary were living at 12, Devonshire Road in Southport during the 1921 census. They moved back to Cross Roads and were here when Jack was born. They appear to have had a previous child, a daughter called Elsie who was born in 1919 and sadly died in the same year.
Their second son Billie was born in 1927.
War service:
In the 1939 register Maurice and Mary were living at 33, Bingley Road (Barcroft) in Cross Roads and there is a redacted record for this address which may be for Billie.
Maurice was aged 46 and was employed as a Machine tool fitter at that time. Mary was aged 46 and on unpaid domestic duties.
Because Jack was not present at this address, he may have been away. He would have been aged 17 at the time, so it’s possible he was serving in the Royal Air Force if he was on an apprenticeship.
We know from the 1945 newspaper account that he had served with the Royal Air Force in India and was home on leave after being invalided from India.
In context, the war in Europe was effectively over and VE day had been celebrated a couple of weeks previously on 8th May.
On Friday the 18th of May, Jack had been visiting a friend, Mary Clayton at her family home in Cullingworth, she was 22 and about the same age as Jack. He left her house late in the evening on his motorcycle but he never arrived home, as he died in an tragic accident close to midnight. Jack was headed out of Cullingworth on Keighley Road, up the long hill towards the Guide Inn and seems to have been preparing to accelerate up the hill when he hit a wall and was very badly injured.
Nowadays that part of the road has a 30 MPH speed limit attached to it, although the intent is probably to slow traffic down as they come down the hill to enter the village.
On the 22nd May, Jack was buried at Haworth Cemetery on Penistone Hill near the village.
According to the Allied Airmen’s Roll of Honour, he was based at number 1 Holding Unit, Technical Training Command at the Innsworth Military Base, Gloucestershire.
Keighley News. Saturday, 19th May 1945. Deaths:
Taylor – On May 18th, by accident, Jack, aged 22 years (late R.A.F.), beloved son of Maurice and Gertrude Taylor, of 35, Barcroft, Cross Roads.
Funeral arrangements later in “The Yorkshire Observer” and “Bradford Telegraph and Argus.”
Keighley News. Saturday, 26th May 1945. Interments at Haworth Cemetery:
Taylor – May 22nd, aged 22 years, Jack Taylor, 35, Bingley Road, Cross Roads.
Keighley News Saturday 26th May 1945:
CRASHED INTO A WALL
Cross Roads Corporal’s Tragic End
An inquest, conducted by Mr. Hubert Wright, Deputy Craven District Coroner, was held at Bingley Hospital yesterday week on Jack Taylor (22), of 35, Bingley Road, Cross Roads, Keighley, who had died that morning in Bingley Hospital following injuries sustained when the motor-cycle he was riding collided with a wall in Ellar Carr Bottom, Keighley Road Cullingworth, about midnight on the Thursday.
HOME FROM INDIA
Giving evidence of identification Maurice Taylor, machine tool fitter, said his son, a corporal in the R.A.F., was on leave after being invalided home from India.
Dr T. M. S. Findlater, of Wilsden, who saw Taylor at the scene of the accident and supervised his removal to Bingley Hospital, where he was treated for severe internal injuries, said the injuries must have been caused by an extraordinary heavy blow on a hard surface. There was no sign of alcoholic drink.
Mary Clayton, Woodfield Cottage Woodfield Road, Cullingworth, a friend of Taylor, said she had been with him during the evening, and he left her about 11.45 p.m. to go home. He was in good health and there had been no trouble with the machine.
Thomas Henry Willis, of 6, Keighley Road, Cullingworth, explained that about midnight on Thursday he heard a motorcycle travelling fairly fast. The engine was accelerated apparently in preparation for going up the hill near witness’s house.
Then there was a terrific bump and, going outside the witness saw Taylor lying at the foot of the wall with his motorcycle about 10 yards away.
DISPLACED CHAIN
Police-Sergeant Taylor, of Harden, who arrived on the scene about 12.30 a.m., stated that the motor cyclist was conscious and spoke rationally but could not explain the cause of the accident. Witness later found three marks in the road commencing 71ft. from where the motor-cycle struck the wall. One mark appeared to have been caused by a foot rest, another by the exhaust, and a third by a tyre, as if the machine had travelled broadside. After striking the wall the motor-cycle had travelled 36ft. and was in the middle of the road, added witness.
The inquest was then adjourned for an examination to be made of the motor-cycle. This revealed that owing to the chain becoming displaced the rear wheel had locked and this was directly responsible for the cycle crashing into the wall.
A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned.
Jack’s grave is number 296 in section C of Haworth Cemetery and has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone as he was in service when he died.
His parents submitted the following inscription:
“Treasured Memories of Our Dear Son Jack. In Our Hearts He Will Never Die.”
Family note:
Mary Clayton died aged 84 at Middlesborough and she does not appear to have been married. Her younger sister Betty married Billie Taylor, Jack’s younger brother and in 1957 they were living at 48, Coronation Way in Keighley. Betty was born in 1928 and Billie was born in 1927, about five years younger than their siblings.
Information sources:
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007.
1939 England and Wales Register.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Haworth Cemetery – CWGC headstone.
St James’ Church Roll of Service.
World War II Index to Allied Airmen Roll of Honour, 1939-1945.
Keighley News archives at Keighley Library.
