| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Stephen Atkinson Cross was born 6 Oct 1883, the eldest son of Daniel Cross, tanner's labourer, of Beckside, Beverley and his wife Jane, nee Atkinson.
He enlisted in 1st Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment and in 1901 he was stationed at Victoria Barracks in Beverley. By 1911 he was back home living with his parents at 6 Wharfe Terrace, Beckside, Beverley and working as a general labourer.
As a former regular soldier and army reservist, Stephen was recalled to the colours on the outbreak of the Great War. The 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment (of the 18th Brigade in the 6th Division) embarked for France with the British Expeditionary Force on 8 Sep 1914. The Division was in action in the battle of the Aisne and Armentieres. According to a letter published in the Beverley Guardian of 2 Jan 1915, Stephen 'nearly got a German bullet, which went through his haversack, bayonet scabbard and knocked off his cap'. After periods of holding the line in various locations in Flanders the 6th Division undertook an attack on Hooge (near Ypres) on 9 Aug 1915. It was in this attack that Stephen Cross lost his life while leading a party of bomb-throwers.
Corporal Stephen Cross has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |