Colledge,+Bertie

Bombardier, "D" Bty. 92nd Bde. Royal Field Artillery. Service No: 32452. Age: 22. Date of Death: 18/04/1918 Son of Henry and Margaret Colledge, of 1, Nile St., Lees, Keighley, Yorks. ADELAIDE CEMETERY, VILLERS-BRETONNEUX, II. N. 5.
 * Colledge, Bertie**

Bombardier B. Colledge of Lees - wounded.
 * Picture from Keighley News:**



Bombardier Bertie Colledge. No. 32452, Bombardier, "D" Bty. 92nd Bde. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action on 18th April 1918.

1895: Born at Cross Roads in the third quarter. Registered at Keighley. Son of Henry and Margaret Colledge. They had thirteen children. 1901: census - living at 5, Nile Street, Lees. Aged 5 years. 1911: census - living at 1, Nile Street, Lees. Age 15 years. Employed as a millhand/spinner in a woollen mill. 1915: June - joined the Army, age 19 or 20 years. Occupation at time of attestation: Printer, working at Messrs. T. Harrison & Sons, printers, Bingley. 1916: Posted to France with the British Expeditionary Force. 1917: July 31st - wounded in the foot by shrapnel - hospitalised in France. 1918: 18th April - Killed in action by a shell exploding by his gun battery.

Bertie Colledge is buried in Plot II, Row N, Grave number 5 of Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux, in the Somme Region of France. He is also remembered on the Cross Roads War Memorial in the Bowling Club building in Cross Roads park and his name is inscribed as a memorial on the family grave in Keighley (Haworth) Cemetery on Penistone Hill, Haworth.

Medals Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal

LEES AND CROSS ROADS Bombardier Bertie Colledge, son of Mr and Mrs Henry Colledge, Nile Street, Lees, was wounded in the foot by shrapnel on July 31, and is in hospital in France. Bombardier Colledge is the youngest of four brothers serving with the forces. He joined the Royal Field Artillery in June, 1915, going to France six months later. In civil life he was a printer.
 * Keighley News report dated 11th August 1917:**

WORTH VALLEY Lieutenant Simm, Royal Field Artillery, has written Mr and Mrs Colledge, of Nile Street, Lees reporting the death of their youngest son, Bombardier Bertie Colledge who lost his life on April 18, having been instantaneously killed at his battery by an enemy shell. Lieutenant Simm refers in sympathetic terms "to the great loss sustained by Bombardier Colledge's death and to his being one of the most cheerful and good natured men in the battery, and also to the keen regrets of his comrades." Bombardier Colledge joined the forces in June 1915 and went to France in January 1916. He had been twice wounded and had also suffered from an attack of trench fever. In the Haworth district he was acknowledged a most promising cricketer and billiard player. Well built, athletic, and of high character, he was a general favourite at Cross Roads. Mr and Mrs Colledge have three other sons on active service, and a son-in-law and a nephew have died in the service of their country. Bombardier Colledge was employed by Messrs. T. Harrison & Sons, printers, Bingley.
 * Keighley News report dated 11th May 1918:**

Bertie's three (out of four) brothers who served in the armed forces during WW1 were: William Henry Colledge John Robert Colledge George Colledge They all survived the war and all three are named on the Roll of Honour section of the Cross Roads War Memorial, with Bertie being on the War Memorial section.

Inscription reads: Bertie, beloved son of the above (Henry and Margaret Colledge) who fell in action in France on April 18th 1918 in his 23rd year. Peace Perfect Peace.
 * Family memorial inscription in Keighley (Haworth) Cemetery:**