Harry Wilkinson was the eldest of five children born to Frederick Wilson and Mary Wilson whose marriage was registered in the first quarter of 1897. Frederick was a blacksmith from East Ayton and Mary was from nearby Brompton. Harry was born in the spring of 1898 in West Ayton.

The family was living at 12 Railway Crossing Road, West Ayton when the census was taken on 31 March 1901. Harry described himself as a blacksmith and shoeing smith, and as well as 2 year old Harry, the couple had an infant daughter, Minnie. The family stayed in West Ayton and over the next ten years Mary had another two children.

When the next census return was made 12 year old Harry was still at school, though it is likely that he would soon be leaving as he approached the age of 13. Mary was expecting her fifth child, another daughter, who was born in the summer of 1911.

Harry was 16 years old when war broke out in August 1914, and it seems that he was keen to volunteer his services; officially he should have been at least 18 when he enlisted, and would have been allowed to serve overseas from the age of 19.

Though his service records have not survived, we know that Harry enlisted in Scarborough, most likely around May 1915 (possibly after turning 18 that spring). He joined the West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own) and was issued with service number 19900. Harry was posted to 9th Battalion, a service battalion which was Witley Camp near Godalming in the spring of 1915.

After his basic training in England, Harry was sent to join his unit in the field, disembarking in the Balkans on 26 October 1915, two months after the Battle of Scimitar Hill and the battalion had suffered tremendous casualties.

Bryan Thompson recorded 'Harry's time at Suvla did not see any more advances but still the constant sniping, raiding and disease took its toll. In November a great rainstorm swept the peninsular and the trenches soon flooded and collapsed. This was rapidly followed by a blizzard and freezing weather. Over 15000 men suffered from frost-bite and many died. In December the army was evacuated from Suvla without loss during the operations. The last party to leave was from A and C companies of Harry's 9th West Yorks.'

This must have been a terrible time for 17 year old Harry, more used to the quiet environs of East and West Ayton. Following a stay at Mudros for some recovery time, the battalion moved on the serve on the defence lines at Sidi Bashir and El Ferdan (Egypt) before orders were received to proceed to France.

The men embarked HT Arcadian arriving at Marseilles about 4pm on 1 July 1916. For several weeks they were billeted in the Arras area acclimatising to the new, very different, conditions and training in preparation for an upcoming offensive.

The battalion's first action on the Western Front was on 14 September when they made a successful attack on the Wunderwerk stronghold (built of reinforced concrete and defended by many machine gun placements). A few days later, the men moved into trenches near Ovillers, being relieved on 25 September and marching off to bivouacs on strips of land at Bouzincourt. The next day the men went into Reserve in dugouts at Crucifix Corner.

On 27 September the battalion was to be part of an attack on Hessian Trench, but at 3pm a message was received by 6th Battalion the Green Howards, who were positioned to the left of Harry's 9th West Yorkshire Regiment, postponing the attack by an hour. Crucially, Harry's battalion did not receive the message as they had begun their attack from High Trench just minutes earlier. The men met heavy machine gun fire and the ground made progress difficult, though they managed to take Stuff Redoubt, they did not achieve their objective of taking Hessian Trench.

Later in the afternoon the Green Howards managed to take Hessian trench West and what was left of the two battalions combined, fighting through the night and into the next day before being relieved. Between the two battalions over 400 men were lost that day.

Eighteen year old 19900 Private Harry Wilkinson was one of those men lost. In October Harry's father was notified that his son was missing in action and the following month, that it was assumed that he was killed in action on 27 September, surviving the Gallipoli Campaign to be lost in the mud of the Somme at Stuff Redoubt.

Harry's body has never been found and is remembered with honour on the Thiepval Memorial, one of 47 men from his battalion who were killed on the same day. He is also remembered on the War Memorial in St John the Baptist churchyard, East Ayton.

For his service to his country Harry earned the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.*  His accrued pay and War Gratuity Payment of £5-10s were sent to his father. When the census was taken in 1921 Harry's parents were still living in West Ayton. His father died in 1925 and his mother in 1969.

(*Harry's medals were sold at auction in November 1916 for £280.)