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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
CSM William Ernest "Wig" Wigley DCM MID
British Army 2nd Btn York & Lancaster
from:Pontefract
I was too young to understand what my Grandfather must have endured in WW1. My mother said he would never talk about it, but when my Mother and Uncle died I inherited all my Grandfathers militaria including newspaper clippings articles from the Tiger & Rose and a box full of post cards every single card that my Grandfather wrote to my Grandmother during the War. Amusingly he would always say "from me to it, I am alright, somewhere in France" (they could never give their exact location). I have managed to piece things together as best I can. He served with the 2nd Battalion Yorks & Lancs but at the start of the War he embarked with the Battalion from Ireland to France where he then joined the 1st Battalion and first saw action in the Ypres Salient after a period of rest they were then moved to the Somme then back to the Ypres salient and Salonika. During this period he was mentioned in despatches 27/11/1917, received the 1914 Star, BWM,VM, DCM (18/02/18), French Silver Medal of Honour with swords. It didn't stop there , 1919-21 saw him in Mesopotamia and NW Persia, where he received the GS Medal with clasp. At the outbreak of WW2 he had the task of mobilising the Reservists, the formation of the ITC and eventually the formation of the. ATS Training Centre. After retirement my Grandfather (now a Major), joined the civilian staff of the Regimental Depot at Pontefract as Museum Curator and was entirely responsible under various Depot Commanders for setting up the new Museum in the old Depot Sergeants Mess. I know, from what my Mother and Uncle have said, he was very proud of the Yorks & Lancs, having enlisted in 1906, and kept in touch with them right up until his death in 1974 and I am very proud to be his Grandson, I know he lost a lot of friends in France during WW1 and I always shed a tear when I try to imagine what they must have Gone through. They will never be forgotten.
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