| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Frank Wray Woolas was born in Walkington the 20 Jan 1893, the son of Alfred and Mary Woolas. He was baptised in Walkington and attended the Wesleyan Day School in Beverley. By 1911 the family had moved to Rotherham, but by that time Frank was serving as an Ordinary Seaman on HMS Blenheim, having joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Entrant in 1908 at the age of 15.
At the outbreak of war, Frank transferred to the Army, joining the 7th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. He embarked for France with the Battalion on 30 May 1915, landing at Boulogne where they took over a section of the front line at Ploegsteert Wood in June. The Battalion was in action in the Battle of Loos from 30 Sep. While taking part in the action of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, with the 7th Battalion, Frank Woolas was killed on 13 Oct 1915. Although his parents lived in Rotherham at the time of his death, details of Frank's service and his death were published in the Beverley Guardian 13 Nov 1915.
He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, he was awarded the British War, Victory and 15 Star Medals.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |