Lieut. Knowles.
Lieut. Hedley Knowles, ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, the first Skipton officer to give his life for King and Country. Lieut. Knowles was the son of Mr. and Mrs. M. R. Knowles, The Arches, Skipton. The news of his death was received with very deep regret, for he had, by his geniality of disposition, earned the affection of a wide circle of friends. The deceased officer, who was twenty-two years of age, was destined for the legal profession, and had before him a career of much promise. The outbreak of war saw him, with typical British patriotism, eager to take his part in the momentous struggle. He had joined the 6th Bn. Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1913, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. It was while training in camp at Marske that the Territorial Force was ordered to mobilize, and he went with his Bn. to Immingham, where they went into training, and accompanied them later to Healing, Riby and Doncaster. Later he accompanied his Battalion to France, where he proved himself a thorough and capable officer. It was while acting as instructor to a school of bomb throwing that he met his sad end, being killed by the premature explosion of a rifle grenade on May 30th, 1915. Death was instantaneous, and the whole regiment sincerely grieved the loss of one who had made himself a general favourite with both officers and men. As one of the officers, in communicating the painful news to his parents, said, “He was an excellent soldier and a thorough sportsman. He had no fear, his only wish being to serve his King and Country, for which he has given his life.”
2nd Lieut. Bargh.
2nd Lieut. George Bargh, the King’s Liverpool Regiment, son of Mrs. Bargh, of Procter’s Farm, Wray, near Lancaster, reported killed in action on May 10th, 1915. News reached Mrs. Bargh from Col. Wallace, 1st Suffolk Regt., who was a prisoner of war in Germany, that on that date her son was shot in the head, just before the Germans took the trenches, as he was bandaging a wounded soldier, and was killed instantly. Lieut. Bargh received his early education at Halifax, and subsequently obtained his B.Sc. at University College, Reading. He afterwards became a teacher at Hawes Council School. He accepted his commission in the King’s Liverpool Regiment early in 1914.
Lieut. Morkill
Lieut. R. F. Morkill, East Lancashire Regiment and Royal Flying Corps, second son of Mr. J. W. Morkill, J.P., of Newfield Hall, Bell Busk, met his death on June 22nd, 1915, following injuries received in a flying accident at Gosport, and the sad event cast a deep gloom over the Craven District, where the family is well known and highly respected. Lieut. Morkill, who was attached to the East Lancashire Regiment, went to the front in Sept. 1914, and was on active service continuously up to February, 1915. On returning to England, he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as a probationer and qualified as an aviator only a week before he met his untimely end. Two years previously, Lieut. Morkill had obtained a Pilot’s Certificate at the Eastbourne Flying School. On June 22nd, he was ordered to make the flight from Gosport to Shoreham and back. The machine was certified to be in perfect order. According to the evidence at the inquest Lieut. Morkill was preparing to start on the return journey from Shoreham. The engine was running satisfactorily, but a leak was observed in the oil cistern. After a new pipe had been fitted the journey was commenced. When up about 200 feet, the engine missed once or twice and appeared to stop, due, as was subsequently ascertained, to a mechanical fracture. The aeroplane came to the ground and Lieut. Morkill was found to have been crushed by the wreckage. He died as the result of his injuries in his 23rd year. He married in Sept. 1914, Ellen Mary, youngest daughter of the late Mr. T. L. Wilkinson, Neasham Abbey, Darlington.
