Craven's Part in the Great War

This Volume is presented to Lieut. Walter Yates. as a Memento of his having served his King and Country by joining His Majesty’s Forces during the Great War of 1914-1919.
WALTER MORRISON, ESQ., J.P. OF MALHAM TARN
WHO HAS GENEROUSLY DEFRAYED THE WHOLE COST OF THIS PUBLICATION.
This volume of “Craven’s Part in the Great War” is a humble but sincere expression on the part of Mr. Walter Morrison, of Malham Tarn, of the gallant, heroic and self-sacrificing spirit shown by the sons of Craven in resisting the unscrupulous, malignant and prearranged design of Germany and her dupes to crush the British Empire and the civilised countries associated with her. Mr. Morrison’s anxiety to commemorate the part that Craven has played in the Great War, and to perpetuate the memory of those who have fallen or been otherwise stricken, found its solution in October, 1916, when, at a meeting at Mr. Morrison’s “mountain home” on Malham Moor, a board of trustees to see to the carrying out of the work was formed, consisting of Mr. Morrison (who has generously defrayed the entire cost), Col. John Birkbeck, J.P., Settle, and Mr. Thomas Brayshaw, J.P., solicitor, Settle. The task, which has entailed three years’ hard work in compiling what may, without egotism, be termed a unique record, was entrusted to Mr. John T. Clayton, editor of the “ Craven Herald ,” who has had the valued assistance of Mr. Brayshaw and his extensive local knowledge of the Craven district.
Everything that assiduous care and attention to detail could suggest has been done to make the record complete so far as the Skipton Parliamentary Division is concerned, and we are confident that the volume will be treasured as an honoured heirloom in every family whose representative has done his share in freeing our beloved Empire from the slavery of German hatred and military aggression.
J. T. C.
Skipton, October, 1919.
H.M. KING GEORGE V.
Few people in these Islands knew in the early part of the summer of 1914 that Europe was on the verge of the greatest war in history. The few men who had foresight and courage enough to warn us of the German menace were ridiculed, and when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (nephew and heir to the Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria) and his wife were assassinated at Sarajevo, it was not realized that we had reached the opening stages of a long-drawn-out tragedy which would see Europe converted into a vast battlefield and cast a shadow over the whole world.