All Saints, Barlby

The daylight was beginning to fade by the time I visited this church, but having visited on other occasions I knew of the presence of a couple of war graves here.

However, I was not aware of one of them, due to not previously knowing of the existence of dark grey granite headstones on these graves.

The extant burials are -

T3/031317 Driver McCarthy, W.
Army Service Corps
30th May 1916

14120986 Driver Graves, Albert
Royal Corps of Signals
15th May 1947. Age 20

950321 Cpl Tomlinson, A.E.,
Royal Air Force
7th March 1944. Age 25

S/93598 Cpl Milner, H.,
Royal Army Service Corps
17-18th April 1942. Age 29

25146681 Pte Carlton, Jamie
Royal Logistic Corps
20th December 2004. Age 19

This one really had a sobering effect on me. Most of the war graves ive documented are from the world wars or small post war conflicts. They in many ways are quite distant. This isnt, his time in service would overlap that of many of the ex-forces people I now work with.

Current Survey Status

So far in this survey, I have visited roughly two thirds of the churches and cemeteries I know of within Selby District,

In doing so, over one hundred and fifty war graves have been identified and recorded on this survey, plus a number of other graves of interest.

On the above map, those marked blue have been visited and recorded. Those marked in green remain to be visited. The few in yellow are outside of the boundary.

Selby Abbey, Selby

There are no War Graves in the churchyard of the Abbey.

Inside there are a number of memorials and monuments. The abbey itself is open to the public and is very much worth a visit. The church ladies run a tea room inside and gift shop. See my other blogs for details of our radio special event station from the Abbey.

St. James the Apostle, Selby

Another town center church, with very small grounds.
No Wargraves Extant

St. Marys, Selby

Only one single ancient headstone is present in the extremely small yard of this church.
No Wargraves Extant

St. Marys Catholic Church, and village Cemetery, Carlton

There is one war grave in the churchyard of St. Marys Catholic Church

1213919 Sgt Pierson, R.T.,
Royal Air Force
30th June 1942. Age 21

Likewise, only one war grave is extant in the village Cemetery

23866974 WO2 (SQMS) O' Neill, M.,
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
31st May 1981. Age 34

It is of note that the above headstone differs from the standard CWGC design in that it has rebated corners, and is of dark grey granite.

St. Marys parish Church, Carlton

Confusingly, there are two churches in Carlton, both called St. Mary's. I will deal with the other and the cemetery in the next post.

No Extant War Graves

St. John the Baptist, Chapel Haddlesey

No Extant War Graves

Graveyard backs onto the home of a pair of rather sad looking donkeys

St. Edmunds, Kellington

A very large graveyard with many ancient and badly overgrown graves, and clearly popular with the recently deceased, but no extant war graves present

A very friendly black and white mouser accompanied me around the graveyard here

St. Johns church and village cemetery, Kirkby Wharfe. Part 2.

In my previous post I detailed the First and Second World War losses interred in the cemetery at Kirkby Wharfe. In this entry, I will list those from post-WW2.

The era following World War Two is mostly known for the brinkmanship standoff between NATO and the Warsaw Pact - the Cold war. But, despite the name, often this period was anything but cold! Often known as 'Britains Small Wars', the UK and commonwealth were often engaged in 'proxy' campaigns, counter insurgencies, and 'police' actions, throughout the world. This was also the time of the Imperial Sunset, the final end of the British Empire, and not all of the independence was given freely. Campaigns such as Suez, Oman, Malaya, and our own 'home grown' emergency Northern Ireland.

It was also a time of the rise of fast jet aircraft, a move away from large, highly crewed bombers to small, fast, one or two man attack aircraft.

But, this was also a time of limited deployment, and some of these deaths are likely to have been due to training accidents or other non combat roles.

The following entries have dates from the 1950's to as late as 1991 - an RAF loss during Operation Desert Storm.

4004410 A/C 1st Class Marshall, R.,
Royal Air Force
10th January 1952. Age 23

Pilot Officer Mann, D.J.
Royal Air Force
18th March 1953. Age 20

Flight Lieutenant Davies, M.P.,
Royal Air Force
22nd July 1953. Age 33

Flying Officer Yelding, G.M.J.,
Royal Air Force
18th August 1953. Age 20

Flying Officer Kenrick, P.C.,
Royal Air Force
27th August 1955. Age 28

Pilot Officer Wrench, J.B.,
Royal Air Force
17th May 1963. Age 22

Flying Officer Burkey, D.T.,
Royal Air Force
27th July 1964. Age 22

Pilot Officer Dennis, A.D.,
Royal Air Force
17th September 1964. Age 22

Flight Lieutenant Blows, C.L.,
Royal Air Force
28th March 1965. Age 42

K2218359 Cpl Storey, J.W.K.,
Royal Air Force
30th December 1965. Age 41

W1797052 Sgt Redmond, J.A.,
Royal Air Force
21st December 1971. Age 47

X0619467 Flt Sgt Dunbar, A.,
Royal Air Force
7th April 1974. Age 53

Flight Lieutenant Bayliff, T.D.,
Royal Air Force
3rd July 1979. Age 25

H8106602 Snr A/C Wright, S.,
Royal Air Force
15th January 1986. Age 29

B1922291 Sgt Freak, W.A.,
Royal Air Force
13th September 1986. Age 53

Flight Lieutenant Blewitt, P.J.,
Royal Air Force
5th October 1986. Age 47

Sqn Ldr Lennox, G.K.S., BSc,
Royal Air Force
22nd January 1991. Age 34

This last entry brings us much closer to the present, the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupational forces, during Op. Desert Storm, the 1st Gulf War. The MoD's own entry on the loss is below

On 22 January 1991 Sqn Ldrs G K S Lennox and K P Weeks led the first of two formations delivering 1,000lb bombs in a night attack on an Air Defence site in western Iraq. The weather was good with excellent visibility, and they carried out a successful attack despite heavy AAA fire. Approximately five seconds later the leader of the following formation saw a fireball erupt in the distance. Closer investigation revealed a series of fires on a hillside to the right of track where the fireball had been. As Sqn Ldrs Lennox and Weeks failed to check in after the attack, the leader realised that this fire trail was probably caused by their aircraft crashing. Both aircrew were killed in the crash.

Ref : http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/RAFTornadoAircraftLosses.cfm

There are also a number of retirees, and a few other headstones bearing military inscription and insignia -

515842 Sgt Mason, J.,
Royal Air Force (Ret'd)
7th April 1976. Age 62

Sqn Ldr Ratcliffe-Springall, T.J.,
Royal Air Force
17th April 1968. Age 61

Brigadier Knox, G.S.,
Royal Signals (Ret'd)
1908 - 1989

Captain Ratcliffe-Springall, B.M.,
16/12/41 - 21/4/91

Lodge, Anthony
Ex. Royal Corps of Transport,
11/10/56 - 1/5/2015

St. Johns church and village cemetery, Kirkby Wharfe. Part 1.

The church of St. John is located in the out of the way, quiet hamlet of Kirkby Wharfe, and by the recurrence of surnames and headstone styles reveals itself to be very much the church of the local hall.

There are two war graves withing the church yard -

3411 Pte  Lacy, A.B.,
Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry,
29th September 1918. Age 41

 24024 1st Air Mechanic Copperwheat, J.,
Royal Flying Corps,
31st January 1918. Age 36

However, located some way from the church and almost out of sight beside the narrow road, the cemetery contains a real surprise

A very large number of RAF graves. Mostly pilots, lost from nearby RAF Church Fenton. Many of the dates are surprising, and interesting. There are also some commonwealth headstones but of retired senior officers.

First and Second World War -

2nd Lt Waterhouse, R.B.M.,
West Yorkshire Regiment
26th March 1919. Age 30

Pilot Officer, Niccolls, H.L.
(Canadian) Pilot, Royal Air Force
3rd March 1940. Age 20

Flying Officer, Coe, R.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
10th January 1940. Age 28

Pilot Officer, Carter, D.C.R.,
(New Zealand) Pilot, Royal Air Force
8th November 1939. Age 27

Pilot Officer, Thomas, J.E.
(Southern Rhodesia) Pilot, Royal Air Force
30th January 1939. Age 22

Pilot Officer, Robinson, S.J.D.,
(South Africa) Pilot, Royal Air Force
30th January 1939. Age 22

Pilot Officer, MC Coll, J.D.L.,
Observer, Royal Air Force
13th March 1942. Age 20

Flying Officer, Ievers, E.O.,
Royal Air Force
29th April 1942. Age 38

334167 Cpl Hall, J.E.
Royal Air Force
9th May 1940

Pilot Officer, Cameron, A.S.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
22nd February 1941

Pilot Officer, Buley, G.R.M.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
28th february 1941

623219 Cpl Proudlove, H.R.,
Royal Air Force
28th February 1941

1181630 Sgt Hanson, W.F.M,
Air Gunner, Royal Air Force
28th February 1941. Age 19

Pilot Officer, McDonnell, A.J.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
13th February 1942. Age 19

1021123 Sgt Woolgar, C.W.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
8th September 1941

Pilot Officer, Okell, J.L.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
24th August 1941. Age 22

402238 Sgt Neighbour, C.J.,
Pilot, Royal New Zealand Air Force
18th July 1941. Age 24

402908, Pilot Officer, Mc Murtrie, A.D.,
Pilot, Royal New Zealand Air Force
18th July 1941. Age 21

Flight Lieutenant, Jenkins, P.R.E.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
6th August 1942

741920 Flight Sergeant Pearce, L.H.B.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
9th April 1941. Age 27

1160948 Sgt Smeaton, B.W.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
10th May 1941. Age 22

1053585 Sgt Heggie, D.A.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
29th May 1941. Age 26

Pilot Officer, Oxley, M.R.P.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
3rd July 1941. Age 24

1057420 Sgt Woodward, C.C.,
Pilot, Royal Air Force
30th July 1941. Age 21

P82503 Flt Sgt Meers, F.E.,
Observer, Royal Canadian Air Force
4th September 1942. Age 24

778629 Sgt Green, D.A.,
(South Africa) Pilot, Royal Air Force
4th September 1942. Age 22

Church of the Immaculate Conception & St. John of Beverley, Scarthingwell

Located behind the grounds of Highfield Care Home on Scarthingwell Park. Despite its impressive size and history, there are no graves here at all, and no cemetery.

Ulleskelf Methodist Church

No Extant War Graves

St. Andrews, Newton Kyme

The furthest out of all the Selby District churches, just a short hop to Thorpe Arch. St. Andrews is nestled beside a large hall.

Although there are no actual war graves, there is an interesting headstone -

Douglas Grant, 'Professor, Poet, Author, Commando' 1921 - 1969

A search reveals that D. Grant served in the commandos as an officer in Sicily during WW2.

St. Peters church and cemetery, Kirk Smeaton

Neither the church nor the cemetery has any extant war graves, although the cemetery is bounded on one side by a very productive allotment garden!

An interesting feature in the church yard are small square marker stones, each marked with a line and a 'W', possibly boundary markers?

Womersley Cemetery and St. Martins parish church

There are two extant wargraves in the Cemetery at Womersley, including an unusual Royal Navy grave with a late date.

Extant interments -

K/13350 Stoker 1st Class Barr, L. W.,
Royal Navy, HMS Actaeon,
17th April 1921

5059 Pte Procter. P, 
Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry,
12th April 1916 Age 21


A quick check shows HMS Actaeon as being a shore establishment, part of the torpedo school.

The parish church of St. Martin has a large cross memorial, but no extant graves.