Born: 1880, Eccleshill
Died: 16 September 1917
Buried: Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension
Address: 1 Rawson Square, Idle
Parents: Joseph & Mary Elizabeth
Spouse: Emily, nee Baxter
Siblings: Esther
Occupation: Weaver (1911)
Organisations/clubs: Idle CC, Idle Victoria FC
Military
Rank: Pte
Medals/awards:
Rolls of Honour: Holy Trinity, Idle; Greengates
Children: Edith
Regiment: West Yorkshire
Harry Jaques
The first mention that Harry was
serving came in a report of the
death of his father Joseph, a Crimea
veteran, published on 15 December
1916
On 28 September 1917, the Shipley
Times & Express reported:
News has been received that Pte
Harry Jacques, West Yorks, of 1
Rawson Square, Idle, has been
killed in action.
As a member of the Idle Cricket
Committee he rendered excellent
service to the club and by his death
that organisation has sustained a
great loss.
He was also a playing member of
the Idle Victoria Football Club and
he was a capital player in the
forward line.
In a letter to his wife, the chaplain,
the Rev A McKeachie, says: “He
was in the trenches with his
battalion when a shell came over
and exploded near a group of which
he was one. He was wounded so
severely that death took place
almost immediately so that he did
not suffer at all.
“I took the funeral yesterday and
laid him to rest in a village
cemetery where many of our
soldiers are buried.”
There was another letter from Lieut
Edwin H Umbers in which that
officer writes – “He has been my
servant ever since he joined the
Battalion and a more honest and
cheerful and brave man never lived.
“He always had a smile on his face
and a cheery word for everyone, no
matter what the danger.”
