Jesse Marshall

Private Jesse Marshall 12/1037

 12th (Service) Battalion (Miners) (Pioneers), King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI)

Jesse Marshall was born in Dewsbury in early 1894 the third child and second son of Gildersome born Esli and Sarah Jane Marshall (nee Scorah), of Hanging Heaton. The couple were married at Thornhill Holy Innocents Parish Church on 7th June 1884 when Esli was 19 years old and Sara was aged 18 years. Both gave their address as Savile Town at the time of their marriage. Esli was working as a factory operative and Sarah Jane had no trade or calling.

By 1891 the couple were living at the two roomed dwelling at 8, Mission Street Dewsbury with their first two children, Alice Jane (born 1885) and William (1888). Esli was working as a willower and Sarah Jane, a woollen weaver.

By 1901 the family, now with the addition of Jesse (born 1894) and Harold Esli (1899), had moved to a three roomed home at 7, Whitley Street, Dewsbury. Esli was a teamer and Sarah Jane was at home with four young children and a house to keep.

The couple had their fifth child, Selina, in 1902 but sadly she was to have few memories of her father, Esli, who died on 16th November 1904, aged 39 years, leaving Sarah Jane a widow with five children, three of whom were under working age. At the time of Esli’s death he was working as a millhand and the family were living at Eddison Street, Dewsbury. His funeral was held at Dewsbury Boothroyd Congregational Church.

Sarah Jane Marshall, aged 45 years, was remarried on 27th March 1909 at St. Thomas Church Batley, to Joseph Hudson Carr (1877-1955) a widowed miner, aged 34, with three children. Bride and groom were living on Taylor Street, Batley at the time of their marriage. By 1911 the couple and six of their children from first marriages had moved to a four roomed house at 8, School Street, Gawthorpe, Ossett. Jesse was a miner hurrier and the only child in the household who was of working age.

Sadly, a year later in early 1912 Sarah Jane also passed away. She was 46 years of age and left five children without their birth mother and father; two of those children were aged only 10 and 14 years.
On 20th September 1913 at St. Philip’s Church Dewsbury, Jesse Marshall, a miner aged 19 years, of 8 Edge Road Thornhill married 19 years old spinster, Lilian Hinchcliffe of 97 Leeds Road, Dewsbury. The couple were to have what was to be their only child, a son called Jesse born on 24th August 1915.

Jesse Marshall goes to war

On 4th August 1914 Great Britain declared war against the German Empire. Jesse Marshall was a miner by trade and, for that reason, it might have been expected that he wouldn’t serve in the armed forces but, rather, make his contribution by continuing his valuable and essential work in coal mining. Instead Jesse volunteered to serve in the forces.

Jessie’s Army service record has not survived so it is difficult to be sure when he enlisted and when he first served overseas. We know he enlisted at Dewsbury and because he was not awarded the 1914/15 service medal we know that that he did not serve overseas until 1st January 1916 at the earliest although he will have enlisted at least six months sooner than that. Jesse died in France on 1st July 1916; hence he must have embarked for France between those two dates. On enlistment Jesse joined the 12th (Service) Battalion (Miners) (Pioneers) King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI), often known as “ t’owd twelfth”.

The battalion came under the orders of the 31st Division (sometimes called the “Pals” Division) and in December 1915 the Division (including the 12th KOYLI) were ordered to Egypt arriving on Christmas Eve. It was a short stay and the Division was ordered to France (a 17day sea journey) in readiness for what was to become The Battle of The Somme. They arrived in the first days of March 1916 and whilst it’s unlikely that Jesse went to Egypt it is likely that he embarked from Great Britain to arrive in France at the same time. Jesse Marshall’s first experience of trench warfare would also be his last.

The 12th battalion KOYLI was known as a Miners battalion because, as early as 5th September 1914, the War Office authorised the West Yorkshire Coalowners Association to raise a Miners Battalion for the King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry). 12th KOYLI was also a Pioneer battalion, trained and capable of fighting as infantry, but that would normally be engaged on labouring work. They were given the name of Pioneers. They differed from normal infantry in that they would be composed of a mixture of men who were experienced with picks and shovels (i.e. miners, road men, etc) and some who had skilled trades (smiths, carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, masons, tinsmiths, engine drivers and fitters). A Pioneer battalion would also carry a range of technical stores that infantry would not.

The 31st Division, of which 12th KOYLI was a part was largely comprised of locally raised units often known as “Pals”. The units from Leeds, Bradford, Barnsley, Hull and Accrington are among the best known of all 1914-raised infantry simply because of the amount of research and publicity they have received, particularly since the 1980s. It was a predominantly northern English in character, with most units originating in Lancashire or Yorkshire – hence the use of the red and white roses in the Divisional symbol.

And so to the day which would become the last for 22 year old Jesse Marshall and another 20,000 or so British soldiers. By 20th June 1916 preparations for the attack on the German Line were in full swing in the Division. The companies of the 12th KOYLI Pioneers were allotted to the 94th and 93rd Infantry Brigades and another two companies were detailed work for clearing out the German communication trenches leading to the line which it hoped to capture in the first British advance. The Pioneers went into the attack equipped similarly to the assault infantry, the chief difference being that the pioneers also carried a pick or a shovel but only 170 – rather than 220 – rounds of ammunition. By 5.50 a.m. on the 1st July all companies were present in their assembly posts.

On the extreme left of the main British attack, the plan for the opening day of the Somme offensive required 94th and 93rd Brigades of 31st Division to capture the hill-top fortress village of Serre. Prior to the attack, five saps (short trenches across No Man’s Land allowing men to move forward without exposure to fire) were dug at intervals along the divisional front, each running from the front line to within 30 or 40 yards of the German lines; one hour before the assault, all the saps were to be opened up. As soon as the infantry were through their first objectives, two 12th K.O.Y.L.I. companies were to start constructing communication trenches leading from the sap heads to the captured German lines. Two 12th KOYLI had been allocated to 94th and 93rd Brigades respectively, their task being to establish strong points at selected positions in the captured German trenches.

The failure of 31st Division’s attack at Serre in the face of overwhelming enemy artillery and machine gun fire is well-known. On the 94th Brigade front, two platoons from “A” Company of the 12th K.O.Y.L.I. followed the  12th York & Lancasters (Sheffield City) Battalion and 11th East Lancs(Accrington Pals) into the attack; as many as four out of every five men from these two platoons were wounded or killed.
In the hours that followed, what was left of 12th K.O.Y.L.I., together with the remaining platoons had to rebuild trenches that were crumbling under heavy gunfire, forward supplies of ammunition, dig new trenches, and help in the later hours to save some of the wounded.
The pioneers reassembled at their assembly posts at 4.30 in the afternoon. 197 officers and men were reported as killed, wounded or missing, though the return of eight missing men on 4th July brought the number of casualties down to 189.

Private 12/1069 Jesse Marshall 12th (Service) Battalion (Miners) (Pioneers) King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was killed in action on 1st July 1916; the first day of The Battle of The Somme.

Dewsbury District News 5th August 1916
Jesse Marshall is remembered at plot 1.D. 18., the Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France.
Colincamps is a village north of Albert and “Euston” a road junction east of the village, were within the Allied lines before the Somme offensive of July 1916. The cemetery started as a frontline burial ground during and after the unsuccessful attack on Serre on 1 July, but after the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917 it was scarcely used. It was briefly in German hands towards the end of March 1918, when it marked the limit of the German advance, but the line was held and pushed forward by the New Zealand Division allowing the cemetery to be used again for burials in April and May 1918.The cemetery is particularly associated with three dates and engagements; the attack on Serre on 1 July 1916; the capture of Beaumont-Hamel on 13 November 1916; and the German attack on the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade trenches before Colincamps on 5 April 1918.