| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Herbert Duffill was born in Beverley 12 May 1891 and baptised in Beverley Minster 5 Jul 1891. His father was John Henry Duffill , a house painter and wallpaper hanger, a trade that Herbert was to go into when he left the Wesleyan School, Walkergate at the age of fourteen in 1905. His mother was Sarah Ann Rawson of Meaux. Herbert was the eldest of five sons. In Apr 1914 he married Hilda Ramshaw in Hull. They had one child Reta born Sep 1914. They lived with Hilda’s parents at 86 Minstermoorgate.
Herbert enlisted in the army 11 Feb 1915, a Private in the 10th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, one of the four “Hull Pals” Battalions, referred to as the “Hull Commercials”. Herbert was involved in the Battle of the Somme at Albert and also in the very last action of the battle at Serre in the valley of the Ancre River between 13 and 18 Nov 1916. Herbert was wounded on the first day of the attack upon heavily fortified German trenches and defensive positions and was hospitalised in France. In March 1918 Herbert was wounded again as the Hull Pals withdrew in the face of a surprise and massive German offensive. According to the Beverley Guardian 6 Apr 1918 he was “wounded in the left hand” and had a “sprain in his left side”, but it was sufficiently serious for him to be repatriated to hospital in Sandgate, Kent and for him to be discharged from the army on 2 Aug 1918. He was awarded the Silver Badge given to those unfit for further service. He was also awarded the War and Victory Medals.
After the war Herbert worked as a pork butcher at the shop at 13 Wednesday Market. The business was also a pub called the Spotted Cow and accessed via the butcher’s shop. Herbert was the licensee here from 1929-1933. Herbert died on 30 Sep 1943.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |