| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Private Joseph (“Joe”) Morley was reported missing in action on 3 May 1917; his body was never recovered and he was presumed killed. He is remembered on the Arras Memorial, France. He served in the Machine Gun Section of “B” Company 10th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, the 1st Hull, otherwise referred to as the “Hull Commercials”. The action on 3 May was at Oppy Wood, North East of Arras where the Germans were in possession of a fortified wood to the west of the village of Oppy that overlooked British positions.
Joe was born in Beverley the 23 Aug 1894 and baptised at St Mary’s the 20 Sep 1894. His father, Frederick Morley ran a grocery business at 6 Toll Gavel; his mother Annie was from Hull. Joe had a sister, Annie Sophia. They lived at 37 The Woodlands. Joe attended Beverley Grammar School from 1905 to 1908 and then became a bank clerk. He was unmarried.
He enlisted on 5 Jun 1915 and spent three months in Egypt guarding the Suez Canal before going to France. He was wounded twice that summer, spending four days in hospital. Joe was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the War and Victory Medals. He is remembered on the Hengate Memorial, on the East Riding Memorial and on the Rolls of Honour at St Mary’s Church and Beverley Grammar School. There is also a famous memorial at Oppy village to all the men from Hull and local area who lost their lives on 3 May 1917.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |