The gentle boy whose body was never discovered

"I am in the pink," the 19-year-old wrote to his parents, Walter and Rebecca, back home in Browning Street, Bradford.

Stuart was an office boy for the Bradford Hospital Fund Executive Committee, and had met his girlfriend, Ruby, at church. He was described as a gentle, unworldly boy. He arrived at training camp, Staffordshire, in early April, 1915 with a group of Bradford lads and wrote to his parents: “I hope you will not worry about me. I have a good lad for a pal (Len Dobson), so I will be alright.”

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Soon after, Stuart and Len were sent “Somewhere in France” and transferred to the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI), 10th battalion. Regiments like the KOYLIs and 16th and 18th battalions of West Yorkshire had sustained huge losses on the Somme on July 1. A battalion war diary describes the assault as machine guns turned on British trenches: “A lot of men never got off the ladder but fell back; and many fell back from the parapet in getting over.” More men, like Stuart, took the place of the dead.

On July 27, Stuart, now in the Lewis (machine) gun section, wrote home" “I am pleased to say I have had the best of luck out here". Then came two letters with a more sober tone. “I will not be sorry when the war is over,” he wrote to his sister Emily, on August 7.

In September the family received a field postcard with multiple choice options - Stuart left open “I am quite well”. That was the last they heard from him. A fortnight later came this letter from Len: “I am sorry to say that nothing else has been heard of Stuart and I am afraid that he will now be in his eternal home. I was at the side of Stuart when the order came down the trench to go over the top and attack. Somehow Stuart and I got separated and afterwards when the roll was called he was not there to answer.”

Stuart's body was never found. His great niece, Rebecca McQuillan, now knows that he died on the first day of the Battle of Morval offensive. Attempts to break through enemy barbed wire failed and German gunners mowed down British soldiers. Stuart may have been shot outright, or left dying in a shell hole.

The devastation of the battlefield reverberated back to Bradford. Stuart's mother Rebecca became depressed and in December 1922, died of flu. Walter died six months later. Stuart's sister, Emily, had a nervous breakdown, in 1919, aged 20, and died in a psychiatric hospital. Stuart’s girl Ruby never married. "My mother remembers meeting her 25 years later, a slight woman referred to even then as 'Stuart’s girlfriend'," says Rebecca.

In July, to commemorate the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, cards bearing the names of fallen soldiers from the district were placed on every seat at Bradford Cathedral. The Bradford World War One Group distributed 100 cards, each bearing a personal story about individual soldiers. They included:

* Cpl Willie Waters, Royal Field Artillery, was the only boy among the six children of his family. His father had a confectionery shop at Barkerend Road and the family lived on Church Bank near the Cathedral. Willie, a gas fitter for the Railway Company, was initially reported wounded, later confirmed killed in action. He died on July 1, 1916 and is buried in the extension to the cemetery at the village of Habarcq, near Arras, alongside 179 British and 378 French soldiers of the First World War.

* Pte Charles Rhodes,West Yorkshire Regiment, was one of the first Pals reported missing. Living in Frizinghall, he was employed by HW and J Blackburn, accountants on Bank Street. He was secretary of the Nutter Orphanage Old Boys' Association, having been brought up in the orphanage. Charles was the youngest of four children. His father died in 1896 and some of the siblings went to Bradford's Nutter Orphanage before the two older brothers entered the drapery business. On July 1, Charles was in action with the Pals at Serre. He is buried at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps.

* Pte Henry Lawrence Rogers, West Yorkshire Regiment, lived at Mulgrave Street, off Leeds Road. He was killed in a shell explosion aged 37. Employed on the Bradford City Tramways, he was married with three children.

"It is often thought the Pals were no more than young lads, but the many older men, like Harry, takes the average age of Bradford men who died from July 1 to November 18, 1916 to just over 25," says Tricia. "These men had been working for years and had families. Harry's three daughters were between seven and 11 in 1916." Harry has no known grave but is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

* LCpl William Barnet, 1/6th Btn West Yorkshire Regiment, crossed to France in April, 1915 with the Bradford Territorials. From July to December the battalion was engaged on the canal north of Ypres in miserable conditions. Early in 1916 they moved to the Somme sector where they were engaged throughout the summer. On September 3 the battalion attacked the Thiepval Ridge once again but after days of carrying parties in bad weather, the men were in poor condition. Casualties among Bradford men were heavy.

William, of Raglan Street, Thornbury, was killed in action on September 3, 1916. He had been at the front for 18 months, and had previously been wounded. He worked at Messrs Smith and Fawcett's foundry, Thornton Road, prior to the war.

* Pte Arthur Leggett, 1/5th Btn Duke of Wellington's Regiment, was one of seven children. Two brothers survived the war; James served with the 2/4th Duke's and Eric with the 10th West Yorks Regiment. Arthur landed in France on June 20, 1916 and was wounded on July 31 but remained at duty. On August 9 his Battalion was still in the Thiepval area when he was killed by a bullet in the back, aged 22.

In a letter to his mother, Corporal LS Blackburn writers: "As a soldier he did his duty always willingly and was one of the lads I could trust. He died doing his duty for King, country and home."

Bradford schools remember former pupils who lost their lives on the Somme. Past and present pupils at St Bede's School, Heaton, will attend a ceremony today marking the 90th anniversary of the unveiling of the school's war memorial.

Former pupils who died in the First World War, including the 13 who perished on the Somme, will be remembered at the St Bede's 87th Old Boys Dinner on Friday, November 25 at the Bradford Club, Piece Hall Yard. Tickets are available from John Simpson on 07989842452 or jfsimmo2003@yahoo.co.uk or John Walsh on 07887374390 or jwalsh682@btinternet.com

Just over 250 pupils at St Bede's were 18 and eligible for military service when the war began. Considerably more are thought to have enlisted under age, and the Old Boys' Association calculated that 300 had served. They responded immediately to the 'call to arms'. Headmaster Father Tindall had a roll of honour and photographs of the "new warriors" posted around the school.

Several men connected with the school, including governors or teachers, served in a variety of units. Thirty-seven former pupils received commissions and 10 were decorated for bravery. Former pupils later returned as military heroes, capturing the imagination of younger boys with talks on battles and bombs. The school magazine recorded that they were "quite a tonic to the jaded masters and tired boys".

In 1916, 13 former Bedesmen perished on the Somme. At the end of the war thoughts turned to a memorial, but it wasn't until 1925 that a fundraising effort was established. On September 26, 1926 Fr Tindall unveiled and blessed a crucifix surmounting a plinth. Surrounded by laurel and rhododendron bushes, it overlooks the city.

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