Coles,+William

Lieutenant, 5th Bn. Yorkshire Regiment. Date of Death: 27th December 1917. TYNE COT CEMETERY. I. F. 2.
 * Coles, William H.**

William was born in Bootle ,Lancs in 1889 son of William ( born 1853/5 in Somerset) and Elizabeth ( born 1858 at Long Preston ). William Snr was a railway man who had worked in several places in England and in 1901 was Station Master at Keighley. By 1911 he was at Skipton.

A brother of Jack Coles ( Robert John born in 1891 at Bootle ) who died on 9th October 1917.

__28th April 1917.__ Picture included. Lieutenant W. Coles of Skipton (formerly of Keighley) Wounded.
 * Keighley News reports:**



__5th January 1918.__ Report illegible on microfilm. __12th January 1918.__ Picture included. Second Lieutenant W. H. Coles. Son of Mr W Coles, Stationmaster at Skipton. Formerly of Keighley, has been killed in action. (Picture credited to Gillman).

William is also listed in this research on officers from Yorkshire who died in the war, which adds:

"Lt William Henry Coles – 5th Battalion. William Coles first saw service with the Yorkshire Hussars as a quarter master sergeant before receiving his commission and joining the 5th Yorkshires. Lt Coles and the 5th battalion moved back into the Ypres Salient on December 10th 1917 after a period of rest and training at St Omer. They were in the vicinity of Brandhoek when a shell scored a direct hit on “C”companies HQ killing three of the officers. Lt William Henry Coles died in this incident on December 27th 1917 and his grave today lies in Tyne Cot Cemetery close to the great memorial panels to the missing."