Charles Hill

War Service

Charles was still a young man when he enlisted at Pontefract and joined the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry as a private. Charles was only 18 years old when he arrived in France on 11 September 1915. Officially, to fight overseas, soldiers had to be aged nineteen or over. Boys could enlist at eighteen but should have remained in the UK until they reach the age of nineteen. Many young men gave their wrong age in order to “do their bit for King and Country”. It would appear Charles was one of those boys. During his army career Charles served in the 10th, 5th and 4th Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and he was eventually promoted to the rank of Corporal.
Charles would have had to endure many hardships and witness many terrible sights in the three years he spent fighting for King and Country before committing the ultimate sacrifice on 4 November 1918.
Charles’ battalion, the 2/4th K.O.Y.L.I. was one of many regiments involved in pushing back the retreating German army. On the 2nd November 1918 they were in the support lines at Ruesnes. Two days later, on the 4 November, the battalion was in the attacking lines. The objective of the day, commencing at 5:30hrs, was to attack the villages of Orsinval and Frasnoy.
At Frasnoy Charles’ battalion encountered heavy machine gun fire and casualties were high. Eventually the capture of the machine guns allowed the troops to enter the outskirts of the village. Then fighting from house to house they eventually pushed the Germans out of the village.
At 9:25hrs a battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment passed through the lines to attack their next objective.
Charles’ battalion finally moved back to Frasnoy for the night, having suffered the loss of 1 Officer and 71 men, either killed or wounded. Charles died on 4th November 1918 just six days before the armistice – he was only 20 years old. Although individual names of other ranks were not listed, it is highly probable that Charles was one of the 71 men killed or wounded during the action of that morning.
Charles now lies in Ruesnes Communal Cemetery. Constructed by the 62nd (West Riding) Division, the Commonwealth plots contain 85 graves of soldiers who fell in November 1918, 24 of the men from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and 18 men from the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment). The cemetery is situated north-west of the Ruesnes, the area where Charles spent his last few days before going into action.
Unfortunately the inscription on Charles’ headstone has eroded to such an extent it is only just possible to see his name.

Family Life

Charles was born in Altofts on 28 December 1897, the second son of William and Charlotte Hill. William was born in Martins Lee, Shropshire; Charlotte in Altofts. At the time of Charles’ birth, William’s occupation is recorded as “miner”, presumably working in one of the local collieries.
Charles spent little time in Altofts; at only three years of age he was living with his parents and older brother John William in the town of Hemsworth, Yorkshire.
The family moved again to live at 212 New Buildings, Grimethorpe, Yorkshire. Following the move from Altofts the family had endured the loss of two children.
In 1911 the family consisted of Charles, his parents William and Charlotte, his older brother John William and his one-year-old baby sister Hilda.
At the age of 13 years Charles worked on the colliery surface probably at one of the collieries in the Grimethorpe area.