| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Herbert Oxendale was born in Beverley in 1883 the second son of Issac and Emma Oxendale. He earned his living as a hay-cutter and enlisted in Hull in Sep 1914 into the 12th East Yorkshire Regiment known as the Hull Pals Sportsman Battalion. The Battalion went to Egypt in Dec 1915 but in Mar 1916 were deployed to France. They took part in the Battles of the Somme Jul to Nov 1916.
On 13 Nov the 12th Battalion East Yorks found themselves on the left of the British front line in the attack before Serre. This was an attempt at a last offensive on the Somme to win victory and save face. In heavy fog the 12th and 13th Battalions moved into no man’s land, they advanced through fierce German fire but could not move forward without reinforcements. The reinforcements never came. Herbert Oxendale together with 139 others from the 12th Battalion lost their lives
Herbert married May Fishwick in Beverley in 1910. They had two children Annie born in 1911 and Herbert born in 1913. After the war May married Henry Twidale and died in Hull in 1953.
Herbert is commemorated on the East Yorkshire Memorial in Beverley Minster, the War Memorial in Hengate, and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, France. He was awarded the 1915 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |