Ernest Marsh

War Service

At the time of the declaration of war, Ernest would have been 16 years old. The precise date is unknown when Ernest joined the 8th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) also known as the Leeds Rifles. Conscription was introduced for single men between the ages of 18 – 41 years in January 1916. However, to serve abroad a serviceman had to be 19 years old but this rule was often flouted. Ernest would have become eligible to serve overseas when he reached the age of 19 on 16 June 1917.
Extracts from the War Diaries for Ernest’s battalion state the following for the early part of the month of October 1917:
“Place – TATINGHEM
1 October Battalion arrived by march route to OXELAERE (a distance of approximately 14 miles from TATINGHEM)
2 October Training was carried out in attack formation.
3 October The Battalion moved to WATOU (a distance of approximately 12 miles from OXELAERE)”
They were moving ever closer to the front lines.
“4 October Range practices and physical training, attack practices.
5 October This day was employed in preparing for action and all officers and O.R. not going in with the battalion moved to the reinforcement camp at Red Station.
6 October The Battalion entrained and moved into camp near VLAMERTINGHE (a distance of approximately 13 miles from Watou)
Place – VLAMERTINGHE
7 October The day was occupied by final preparation for action
8 October The morning was taken up by moving to St Jean (a distance of approximately 4.5 miles VLAMERTINGHE) where dinner was taken and sandbags, bombs and other stores were drawn.
9 October At 5pm in heavy rain the battalion, being the third in the Brigade, moved off the assembly position. This entailed a 12 hour march in single file along trench guides. Owing to the darkness and gaps in the guides and halts the rear company only arrived at the assembly position for the attack west of Passchendaele 5 mins before Zero. In spite of almost insufferable difficulties of weather and ground conditions the battalion advanced under a barrage towards its objectives. B&C companies for the first, A&D for the second objective (Ernest was in D company). Much hostile machine gun and sniper fire was encountered and eventually the battalion dug itself in short of its first objective after advancing 300 yards.”
Out of the 23 officers who went in with the unit on the night of 9th/10th October 8 were killed, 8 were wounded, one was missing and there were 301 casualties among other ranks.
Today it is hard to comprehend the bravery of those young men and the hardship and the conditions they had to endure. After a 12 hour march along waterlog trenches in the pouring rain they were expected to attack without having time to rest before going over the top. Only a few months before they had been miners, farmers, railwaymen and factory workers etc and after enduring a twelve hour march through the night they had to cope with the extremely harsh conditions and the unspeakable horrors of trench warfare.
Rifleman Ernest Marsh age 19 was reported missing, presumed dead, on the 9 October 1917. His body was found and later buried in the Tyne Cot Cemetery.
Ernest’s parents were initially notified that Ernest was missing but they later received the sad news of their son’s death at their home in Frobisher Terrace, Altofts.
The following appeared in the Wakefield Express on 3 August 1918:
“PRIVATE ERNEST MARSH, West Yorks Regiment, reported missing on October 9, 1917, is now officially reported killed on that date. Prior to joining up he was in the lamp cabin at Messrs. Pope and Pearson’s Collieries and lived with his parents Mr and Mrs Edward Marsh, 4, Frobisher Terrace, Altofts.

Family Life

Ernest was born on 16 June 1898 in Altofts, the second child of Edward and Mary Elizabeth Marsh. Edward and Mary were both born in Staffordshire but by 1895 they had moved to live in Altofts where their first child, Mary Ann, was born.
By 1901 Edward and Mary and their two young children Mary Ann and Ernest, who was now 2 years old, were living at 9, Wheatsheaf Terrace, Altofts. During the next ten years the family moved to live at 4, Frobisher Terrace, Altofts and there were five more additions to the family: Mabel, Edith, Fred, George and Irene.

Tyne Cot Memorial