Born: 1897, Shipley
Died: 3 September 1916, Somme
Buried:
Address: 41 Barrett Street, Shipley
Parents: Emanuel & Harriet
Spouse:
Siblings: Ernest, Walter
Occupation: Grocer’s Assistant, Windhill Co-operative
Organisations/clubs:
Military
Rank: Rifleman
Medals/awards:
Rolls of Honour: Thiepval Memorial; (Possibly St Paul’s, St Peter’s and Saltaire Wesleyan Chapel
Children:
Regiment: 1/5 West Yorkshire
Fred Lee
Fred Lee was the eldest of three sons, all born in Shipley. Their father,
Emanuel was, according to the 1911 census, a builder and contractor born in
Bradford, while his mother, Harriet was from Oddington in Oxfordshire.
The following report appeared in the Shipley Times & Express on 13 October
1916.
‘Rifleman Fred Lee, who has been reported missing, was 19 years of age. He
was called up under Lord Derby Scheme on April 4th and was trained in the
West Yorks at Clipston Camp. He had been at the front several months.
‘He was previously employed in the grocery department by the Windhill
Industrial Co-operative Society.
‘Any news concerning him will be welcomed by his parents. He is the eldest
son of Mr and Mrs Emanuel Lee of 41 Barrett Street, Shipley.’
It was May of 1917 before the article below appeared with its graphic account
of Fred’s death on the Somme.
Mr and Mrs Lee of 41 Barrett
Street, Shipley, have now received
official notification that their eldest
son, Rifleman Fred Lee (19), who
was reported missing on September
3rd, 1916, has been included
among the list of the killed.
Mrs Lee received a communication
from L Cpl J W Sanderson, in
hospital in Lancashire, who wrote:
‘I am sorry to say there is no
possible doubt as to your son’s fate.
I knew Fred and liked him too well
to make any mistakes.
‘He had only been with us about
three weeks but he was already a
favourite with all ranks. He was
chosen for the important duty of
despatch carrying on account of his
pluck and intelligence.
‘In September, when he was killed,
I remember he had been ordered to
stick to Lieut Woodhead, of
Bradford, and if we had captured
the German position it would have
been Fred’s duty to carry messages
from that officer to the commander
of the battalion.
‘Lieut Woodhead had his leg badly
shattered by a shell and I heard he
was struck again later and killed.
Your boy appeared to have been
caught by a shell when we were
about halfway across to the first
German trench.
‘That was where I found him as I
made my way back after getting a
machine gun bullet through the hip.
Both his arms had been blown off.
Had I not been so badly crippled I
would have tried to get his body to
bury it.
‘There were only about six
survivors out of the two hundred
men that formed his company and
these were all more or less
wounded. We were making an
attack on a fortified village.
Billiard player
Please accept my heartfelt
sympathy in your grievous loss.
Your son was a brave soldier and
liked by everybody who knew him.
I can imagine his parents were fond
of him.
Rifleman Lee attended Shipley
Church School and was a member
of the Wesleyan Reform Sunday
School.
He was a well-known local billiard
player. After he had left for the
front his parents received a medal
won by him in connection with the
Baildon St Peter’s billiard team.
He was employed in the grocery
department of the Windhill
Industrial Co-operative Society.
Fred is remembered at the Thiepval
Memorial where the names of men
with no known grave are listed.
There is also a Fred Lee on the
memorials at St Peter’s, St Paul’s
and the Saltaire Wesleyan Chapel
but it is impossible to know whether
they mark the passing of this Fred
or another from Shipley, who had
moved to the USA, and died in
August 1917.
