Pte. C.E. Hardcastle
Edwin was the eldest son of Charles & Mary Ann Hardcastle, of 1 French Street, Harrogate. He was born in Haxby, near York.
Edwin was severely wounded during the first few days of the Battle of the Somme, most probably during an attack on a position known as Horseshoe Trench, between the villages of Fricourt and La Boiselle.
The 11th West Yorks moved into the front line south-east of La Boiselle on 3rd July 1916. They attacked Horseshoe Trench at 6.45am on the following morning. They captured the trench, but were then forced to fight for their lives when the Germans launched a series of counter-attacks.
The fighting in Horseshoe Trench was almost continuous until around 10.00am on 5th July, when the battalion was forced to withdraw. They attacked again the same afternoon and the trench was finally cleared by 7.00pm.
During the fighting for Horseshoe Trench on the 5th July, another Harrogate man, Lt. Donald Simpson Bell, of the 9th Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards), won the Victoria Cross for single-handedly attacking and destroying a German machine gun post which was holding up the attack.
Sadly, Lt. Bell was to be killed only 5 days later, performing a similar act of heroism, by leading a charge against a German counter-attack against the newly-captured village of Contalmaison.
Edwin Hardcastle was not destined to survive the Somme either. He was taken to a casualty clearing station at Forceville, but succumbed to wounds there, aged 19, and was buried in the cemetery which became established beside the CCS.
It clearly took some time for the official notification of Edwin's death to reach his parents as it appears that they received a letter of condolence from a Chaplain, a few weeks before the official notification arrived.
Edwin is also commemorated on the Primitive Methodist Church Memorial and the Dragon Parade Methodist Church Memorial, in Harrogate.