| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
William Harold Snee, though he was always known as Harold, was born on 18 Aug 1894 at Dyer Lane and baptised the 26 Sep 1894 at St Mary's Church, Beverley, the son of William and Ada Jane Snee (nee Firth). Ada died in 1898 at the time of her death William was in Ireland serving as a soldier in the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, Harold and his half-sister Mabel Firth were cared for in Beverley by his mother's sister and her husband, Annie Elizabeth and William Gawan. In Mar 1900, Private William Snee embarked on the SS 'Nile' for South Africa with the 2nd East Yorkshires to take part in the Anglo-Boer War. On 25 April 1900, William Snee was wounded by a shell in his left calf and sent to hospital in Blomfontein. By the time Private Snee received his discharge from the Army, young Mabel and Harold had spent most of their lives with the Gawans, of Princes Gardens, Beverley, who became their long-term guardians.
Harold enrolled in the Beverley Church Lads' Brigade on 13 Oct 1903. He was a Church Lad for six years and became a bugler in the band. Aged eighteen, he enlisted as a Territorial soldier in the 5th Battalion, Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment on 17 Dec 1912. Harold volunteered on 4 Aug 1914. He disembarked at Boulogne on 18 Apr 1915. Four days later, due to the critical situation and without time for the usual familiarisation for new arrivals, the Battalion was rushed forward to take part in the Battle of St Julien in the Ypres Salient. On 25 Apr 1915, exactly fifteen years to the day since his father was wounded in South Africa, Harold received a gunshot wound in his right forearm. He was treated at No 4 Stationary Hospital in the Old Distillery, Arques, St Omer, Pas de Calais, before being sent home to a military hospital in Birmingham. Following prolonged treatment for his injuries, he was posted to the 24th Provisional Battalion, a home service battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, to await his military discharge. Harold was eventually discharged on 26 Feb 1916 and received the Silver War Badge. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
William Harold Snee married Lily Winifred Northen in 1919. They had eight children. In 1939, the Snee family lived at 14 King's Square, Beverley. Harold died, aged 68, in Mar 1963. Lily died, aged 67, in Aug 1968. They are both buried in Queensgate Cemetery, Beverley.
Includes information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |