LAST month we published this picture of members of the Second Bradford Pals Battalion, asking if anyone could put names to faces.

The article followed a ‘phonecall from Rita Calam, whose grandfather, Cpl Percy Bateman, is in the middle of the back row. Rita, who saw the photo in our Armistice Day supplement, told us Percy was wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was transported to London for an operation at the General Hospital, but didn’t survive. He is buried in Bowling Cemetery.

Since the article was published, we have heard from three other readers with relatives in the Pals photo.

Glynis Ibbitson got in touch to say her grandfather, Alfred Bairstow, is front left. “He survived the war and became a painter decorator,” says Glynis. “He had suffered gas poisoning at Passchendaele which left him with no sense of smell. I remember saying to him: ‘Grandad, why can’t you smell?’ and he’d say: ‘Because I was gassed.’ He had a sense of humour and used to say not having a sense of smell came in handy in his job, as he wasn’t affected by paint fumes!”

Adds Glynis: “He lived in Thornton and was well known. He and Doris, my grandmother, were married for 64 years and had two daughters, Anne and Ethel. He worked until he was 70 and died in 1988, aged 87. I remember him talking about the war, he lost many friends and never forgot them. When I saw that photo in the T&A it brought back so many memories.”

Eric Morgan says his grandfather, William Morgan, is also in the photo. “He survived the Great War and married my grandmother, Violet,” says Eric. “They lived in the Leeds Road area of Bradford and had one son, (my father) George Morgan. Grandad was the brother of George Morgan, for many years was secretary of the Bradford Pals.”

James Barraclough of Baildon also contacted us to say that second from the left, bottom row, is his great uncle, Private Willie Barraclough, one of three brothers who served in the First World War. “They are remembered at the Barraclough family plot at Undercliffe Cemetery,” says James, a member of the Friends of Undercliffe Cemetery, which looks after the historic site.

The brothers, Willie, Fred and Charles, lived at Fitzroy Road with their parents, George and Priscilla, and went to Barkerend Primary School. Willie later worked at Firths Carpets, Bailiff Bridge. On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916 he was killed in action, aged 21. It was said at his funeral that he was the first of the Bradford Pals to die in battle. Willie is remembered in a Memorial Garden built by Firths for employees who died in the war.

Private Fred Barraclough, in the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards), was given leave to attend his brother’s funeral. Three months later, July 1916, Fred died, aged 26, at University War Hospital, Southampton, of wounds suffered on the Battle of the Somme. Charles also fought with the Green Howards and survived. He lived in Wyke and worked for a brewery. A fourth brother, Tom, was not allowed to enlist because the family already had three sons serving.

Emma Clayton