| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Private William Henry (“Harry”) Ezard, aged 19 and from Walkington, of the 9th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action on 22 Mar 1917. This was the second day of Operation Michael, a surprise German offensive on the Western Front, designed to defeat the Allied forces before the arrival of American troops. Harry was killed on the second day of the Battle of St Quentin in the face of a massive German bombardment which had already caused chaos in the British line. The circumstances of his death are unknown; his body was not recovered. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in France. He was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
Harry joined the army in 1917, enlisting at Beverley. Before heading for France, he married Mabel Wilson, aged 25 of North Bar Without, the daughter of George wilson, blacksmith on 24 Dec 1917 at St Mary’s Church in Beverley. He then went to France. It is not known whether he knew that Mabel was pregnant at the time of his death. She gave birth to their son, William H Ezard, in July 1918 and the child was baptised at All Saints’, Walkington on 22 Jul 1918.
Harry was born in Walkington in Jan 1899 and baptised at All Saints on 26 Feb 1899. His father George Ezard was from nearby Newbald and his mother Jane Ezard was from the village. They lived variously at West End and Northgate in Walkington. After his marriage lived at East End. Harry was the youngest of three children, Elizabeth born 1891 and Nora May born 1898. Harry attended the Council School in Walkington and took part in local organisations such as the Band of Hope associated with Wesleyan Chapel. Before going to war he was in the employ of Mr M T S Stephenson of Walkington House, probably as a farm labourer.
Harry’s son, William, married Ivy Pybus in Hull in 1940 and he spent much of his life in Beverley. Harry’s parents continued to live in the village until their deaths. Harry is remembered on the Walkington War Memorial, on a special plaque in the Methodist Chapel on West End and on the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster where he is wrongly named as “H. Eyard”.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |