| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
John Bodley Bailey was born in Beverley on October 6th 1896 and baptised at St Mary’s church on November 11th of that year. He was the only child of John Elford Bailey (1865-1822) and his wife Kate. His mother was originally from Exeter whilst his father was from Marylebone in London. In the 1911 census John’s father was described as a “doctor, surgeon and physician”. The family lived on Waltham Lane and later North Bar Within. John attended Burstow private school near Horley in Surrey. He was unmarried.
John served in the Officer Training Corps (probably at school) and on January 2nd 1915 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment. He arrived in France on August 12th 1915. On May 2nd 1916 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. The 1st were involved in the early stages of the Battle of the Somme in the Albert area. They received heavy casualties including John who was wounded in the neck, probably a gunshot wound. He then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps to receive pilot training. He served in the 7th Squadron on the Western Front. On September 20th 1917 he was killed in an accident along with 2nd Lt G W McKenzie. They were flying a B.E.8 aircraft. The 7th Squadron were undertaking reconnaissance duties over the Passchendaele battlefield in Belgium at that time. The RFC records do not provide further precise information on his death. John is buried in the Mendinghem Military Cemetery in West Flanders, Belgium. He was awarded the 1915 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
John is commemorated on the Hengate Memorial, on the East Riding Memorial in the Minster and on St Mary’s Roll of Honour. As an active cricketer he is also commemorated on the Beverley Town Cricket Club Roll of Honour.
Includes information taken from census, military records, newspapers |