The Man who fell from the Train

1815 Rifleman Lewis Clayden, A Coy, 1/7th Bn Leeds Rifles

The War Diary for 1/7^th Bn (Leeds Rifles) West Yorkshire Regiment[i] opens on 16^th April 1915 with the battalion landing at Ostrohove in the early hours of the morning, having sailed from Folkestone the night before. The second entry, the following day, records the battalion’s first bit of news that was an event no one would have expected. The entry reads as follows:

“Merville. April 17^th. 2:10 am. Arrived at Merville and proceeded to temporary billets in the town. One man fell from train near St Omer.”

St Omer Railway Station before the Great War

And in the margin, where the remarks were to be written, is named the unfortunate N^o 1815 Rfn L Clayden.

Two days later, Rifleman Clayden rejoined his battalion in Merville and was described as “unharmed”.

Merville Railway Station before the Great War

Lewis Clayden was born in Hunslet in the 4^th Quarter of 1897[ii]. He was eldest of four surviving sons born to the marriage of Harry, who was a bricklayer, and Ada Clayden. The Brothers were Arthur, Lawrence, and Ernest. The couple had two other children who had died. The family lived at 2 First Court, Canning Street, Dewsbury Road, Leeds. Lewis Clayden worked as a Core Maker in a Foundry.[iii]

When Lewis Clayden joined the Leeds Rifles, he was allocated 1815 as his service number, which is indicative of an enlistment in November 1913, and this would have been around the same time as his 16^th birthday, meaning that when the battalion sailed from Folkestone, he was not yet 17 and a half years old.

During the second half of 1915, the 8^th Leeds Rifles were rotating in and out of trench holding duties in the north of the Ypres Salient. Towards the middle of October 1915, Rifleman Clayden was wounded, but was able to return to the battalion after recovering.[iv] Without knowing the nature and severity of his wound, it is impossible to say how long Rifleman Clayden was away from his battalion, and so it is pointless to speculate on which of the actions his battalion was involved in fighting he was there for.

On 16^th April 1918, the battalion was fighting in the Battle of Kemmel Ridge in the vicinity of Bogaert Farm and Spanbroekmolen. The following extract from the regimental history gives some idea of the conditions the men were fighting under:

“About 4:30 am on the 16^th the enemy put down a very heavy barrage, under cover of which his infantry advanced to the attack. There was a thick ground mist at the time, which deprived the West Yorkshiremen of the full use of their fire power, but they put up a splendid fight. “On our extended front they encountered the full force of the enemy attack on the morning of 16^th and fought most gallantly until overwhelmed by superior numbers.””[v]

Kemmel Ridge after the battle

Lewis Clayden, by now a serjeant in A Company, was wounded in the right shoulder, and captured by the Germans. He was held at a camp at Bayreuth, north of Nuremburg. On 31^st August 1918, he was transferred to Konstanz in Switzerland to be interned.[vi]

It isn’t known when Serjeant Clayden was repatriated from Switzerland, but he was disembodied from the Territorial Force on 20^th February 1919, before re-enlisting in the Army as a Regular soldier in the Royal Engineers on 29^th May 1920.[vii]

On 9^th June 1924, at the Church of St Jude in Hunslet, Lewis Clayden and Laura Fields were married. He was still serving in the Royal Engineers, where he was a Corporal in 11^th Field Company, based at Stanhope Lines in Aldershot.[viii] The couple had a daughter, Doris, born in 1925, and a son, Harry, born in 1930.[ix] [x]

After this period, the trail on Lewis Clayden goes cold. Because the 1939 Register does not include military personnel, his absence from it could indicate that he was still serving. Doris Clayden and Harry were living in Leeds.[xi]

Lewis Clayden died aged 70 in 1968.

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[i] National Archives WO 95/2795/1 April 1915

[ii] England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915.

[iii] RG14/27145 1911 England Census

[iv] The Standard, 5^th November 1915

[v] The West Yorkshire Regiment in the War 1914-1918 (Vol II), Everard Wyrall

[vi] ICRC POW Records – PA27530, PA34678, PA39927, R51622

[vii] National Archives WO 329/914

[viii] West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935

[ix] GRO Birth Register 1925 Q2, Leeds 9b 669

[x] GRO Birth Register 1930 Q2, Leeds 9b 667

[xi] National Archives RG 101

Picture Credit: 1 - www.delcampe.net

Picture Credit: 2 – Helen Kegie Collection

Picture Credit: 3 - IWM Q44127