| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Joseph Loft was the youngest son of Samuel and Annie Loft of 37 Grovehill Road. He signed up for the Yorkshire Regiment on 6 Jan 1915, aged just 17. He was 5ft 4in with a 33in chest at the time and, when his brother Stanley was killed was training in Newcastle. Joseph served in France and Italy, with various battalions of the regiment starting in the 5th and being transferred to the 10th and then the 8th. He was wounded twice, suffering with trench foot in Aug 1917 and a gunshot wound to his left eye in May 1918. In Sep 1917 his father contacted the Army after reading a newspaper article which led him to believe his son had died of his wounds, this thankfully was not true and Samuel Loft was informed that his son was still in active service. Joseph was discharged from No.19 Dispersal Unit in Italy in 1919, with the rank of Lance Corporal. He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British Medal.
After leaving the Army Joseph married Elizabeth Ferry Watson of 301 Grovehill Road on 20 Dec 1922 in St Nicholas church. Joseph was a railway porter, then a labourer and lived for a time at 24 St Nicholas Road. In 1949, when his father died, Joseph was a tannery worker. Joseph William Loft died 14 Feb 1964 in Wednesday Market, Beverley.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |