| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Ralph Snowden was born in 1881, the son of William and Charlotte Snowden. The family lived in York and Hull, where William worked for King and Co ironmongers, and finally to Hornsea. William Snowden passed away, aged 65, in Jan 1914. Ralph was the branch manager of the Hornsea branch of the Hull Savings Bank, he worked for the bank for 21 years and was a member of the Hornsea church choir.
Ralph enlisted as a private in the 10th Battalion Hull Pals (East Yorkshire Regiment) in Sep 1914 and served in Egypt and France. In 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, he was gassed, on his recovery he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in Jul 1917. Ralph was killed on 1 Oct 1917 at the age of 36 by a shell fragment, not long after returning to the front lines, having transferred to the 4th Battalion. His death is recorded in the Battalion war diary.
2nd Lieutenant Ralph Snowden was awarded the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the 1915 Star. He is buried at Wanscourt Cemetery, France, near Arras. He is remembered on the Hornsea War Memorial and also on his parent's headstone. He left effects of a little over £600 to his brother Frank of Burton Road, Hornsea.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |