Private, 15th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. Service number 47039.
Previously West Yorkshire Regiment with the service number 76299.
Early life
Smith was born in Keighley in 1896, parents William Johnson Clayton, and Elizabeth Ann Clayton née Lindley who had been married in 1890, registered at Keighley in the last quarter of that year.
Smith’s birth was registered in Keighley in the third quarter of the year. In the 1901 census he was aged four and living at 9, Damems with his parents William, a farmer aged 42 and Elizabeth aged 44, one brother Joseph aged ten, three sisters who were Maria aged eight, Mina aged seven and Ruth aged two. Also living with them was William’s brother Holmes Clayton aged 38 and a shoeing blacksmith. They also had a ‘servant’ who was Albert Lindley aged 18, but he wasn’t actually in service in the house, he was a cattleman on their farm and he was Elizabeth’s youngest brother.
In the 1911 census Smith was aged fourteen and still living at 9, Damems with his parents, one brother and four sisters (The fourth sister was Elizabeth, aged eight.) His parents had been married for 20 years and had six children, all of whom were still alive. Their father William was still a farmer and Smith was a doffer for a worsted manufacturer (probably Damems Mill, just 500 yards down the road). All the children were working full time in a worsted spinning mill except for Ruth and Elizabeth who were at school, although Ruth was now part-time schooling and part-time at home. Holmes Clayton and Albert Lindley were also still living there.
Note: we know that Smith Clayton attended Ingrow Council School, which meams that it’s highly likely that all the Clayton children attended.
The family had a group photograph taken at their front door, which was shared with us by a family member in 2014. At the back are Mina and Smith, middle row are Isabella Leach (Clayton), Maria and Ruth.
Seated at the front are William and Elizabeth with Maurice Lindley. It appears to be from about 1917 or possibly 1918 as Maurice appears to be about two or three years old, he was born in December 1915 and he is the son of Elizabeth’s brother Albert Lindley. Missing from the photo is Joseph (he may have been taking it) and their youngest daughter Elizabeth.
War service:
Smith attested with the 3rd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment at Keighley on December 11, 1915 aged 19 years and five months. He was posted to the Army Reserve, awaiting call up and he may even have had an exemption for a while under the Military Service Act as he was a farmer. He was mobilised 2 years and 164 days later at Halifax on 24th May 1918 by which time he was 21 years and 289 days old.
His medical details were as follows: Height: 6 feet and 3/4 inches. Chest: 36 inches. Weight: 142 lbs, Hair: brown, Complexion: Fresh. Eyes: Blue. His eyesight was 6/6 in both eyes and his physical development was good (which was to be expected from a farmer, having had to carry out strenuous tasks every day on their farm.) His mother Elizabeth was his next of kin and she was in receipt of a separation allowance of 10 shillings per week from his Army pay account from 30th October 1918.
Smith trained at the Whitley Bay infantry base depot from 17th June 1918 and qualified as a rifle bomber during his training.
He was posted to France on 10th September 1918 arriving the next day and going to the Etaples Infantry Base Depot. He was posted to the 1st Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment that day. On 13th September at Etaples, he was permanently transferred to the Durham Light Infantry and joined the 15th Battalion Durham Light Infantry in the field on 17th September. He was only with them for nineteen days before he was killed in action during a battle on 6th October 1918.
Smith was buried in grave 23, row A, plot I of Bois-Des-Angles British Cemetery, Crevecoeur-Sur-L’Escaut in France.
War diary for 15th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, October 1918:
October 6: MONTECOUYEZ FARM.
At 03.00 Bn. HQ. moved to S.5.b.9.3. At 05.00 the Bn. attacked without artillery support. The Battalion came under very heavy machine gun fire, and eventually established a line on the road running South East from MONTECUOYEZ FARM to T.1.b. During the day a footing was gained in the BEAUREVOIR LINE at T.1.b.5.2. and 100 yards of the trench was manned. Possession was also obtained of the trench running from the road to MORTHO WOOD, The Battalion came under very heavy trench mortar and machine gun fire in this position.
Communication was obtained with the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment on the left, and the 38th Division on the right. At night the Battalion re-organised, and the line was re-arranged.
October 7: The Battalion held the line.
Post war:
His family were still living at the farm at 9, Damems in the 1921 census. father William was 63 and a farmer and Elizabeth aged 65 was on home duties. Their son Joseph was working on the farm but everyone else was employed in a worsted mill apart from daughter Ruth who was a dressmaker on her own account and William’s brother Holmes Clayton who was aged 59 and a blacksmith at a local quarry.
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Smith’s remaining Army pay was sent to his father William on 15th February 1919 and amounted to £4 6s 0d. He also received a war gratuity payment of £3 on 3rd December 1919.
Smith’s mother Elizabeth Ann Clayton was his next of kin and she received his personal effects which amounted to just his Army identity disc. He was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal for his war service and these were sent to Elizabeth in February 1921. She was sent a memorial scroll on 2nd May 1921 and would also have received a Bronze War Memorial plaque, both inscribed with his name.
Elizabeth also received a Dependant’s pension of 10 shillings per week beginning on 6th May 1919. However, sadly she died on 4th October 1921 and the pension stopped on 10th October. It was then transferred to Smith’s father William Johnson Clayton, with an adjustment of 20% extra which would have begun on 11th October 1921. That would be 12 shillings for life which for William, lasted until his death in 1946.
Remembrance:
Smith Clayton is remembered on his family’s gravestone at St John’s Church, Ingrow.
He is also named on the Oakworth War Memorial in Holden Park, at Oakworth, the Bogthorn Primitive Methodist Chapel roll of honour in Oakworth Community Hall, the Ingrow Council School memorial at Ingrow Primary School and also on the main Ingrow War Memorial at St. John’s Church.
Information sources:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915.
England & Wales, Free B.M.D. Birth Index, 1837-1915.
1901 England Census.
1911 England Census.
British Army World War I Service Records, 1914-1920.
WO-95/2161. War diary. 15th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry.
British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920.
WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.
Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929.
World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.
St John’s Church, Ingrow.
Photo of the Clayton family grave by Andy Wade.
1921 England Census.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1985.
1939 England and Wales Register.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.
