| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
The Beverley Guardian dated 6 Jul 1918 states 'Pte. W. B. Jessop of Beverley MISSING “Information was received on Sunday last by Mrs. Jessop of 2, St. Andrew Street, Beverley, that her husband, Pte. W.B. Jessop, Headquarters Staff, Yorkshire Regiment (T), has been missing since May 27th”.
In May 1918, the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment was decimated and details taken from the Battalion WW1 Diary relating to 27 May 1918, state: “At 1.00am the bombardment opened with all nature of shell, including gas. Brigade HQ in particular was shelled consistently with gas and masks had to be worn outside the gas-proof dugouts. …. Lt. Col. Thomson reported about 5.45 am that his HQ Company were then fighting around his Command Post and that they appeared to be surrounded.”
William was not among the casualties listed on that day and it was not until Apr 1919 that his wife was notified of his death, which was recorded as having been on 5 Oct 1918. He was awarded the British War and Victory medals, his body not found. He is commemorated at Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, and he is also commemorated on the Memorial in Hengate, Beverley.
William was born in Beverley in 1890, one of nine children born to John Henry Bell Jessop, a tanner’s labourer, and his wife Anne Eliza. He was employed as a printer by Messrs Kemp & Son before enlisting in the Yorkshire Regiment in 1915. He married Elsie Alice Bruce in Oct 1915, she had two brothers serving in the war, David William who was killed in action in 1917, and Robert Daniel who survived. Elsie later married Robert Gray of Beverley.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |