Thomas Henry INGHAM

26633, Private. b. 1898, Clayton d. Sat. 30th March 1918 (aged 20).

A true Clayton lad, Tom had joined up into the Grenadier Guards in 1916 as soon as he had passed his 18th birthday. One of the requirements of the guards at the time was that only men whose stature was above 5’ 8” were accepted into their ranks, so he must have been fairly tall in comparison to the average man of the time!

He was a well known figure in Clayton’s thriving community, as he was the Librarian to Clayton’s chapel choir and also Assistant Secretary to Clayton Baptist’s Sunday Schools. In addition to this, Tom worked locally for his father, Egbert who was a well known yarn merchant in the area. The 1911 census finds Thomas, aged 13, working as a Yarn Agents Office Boy residing at 28 Station Road along with his elder sisters Ida, aged 24, and brother Ernest, aged 23 and mother Harriet.

Tom first set foot in France in early 1917 but within months was returned to England suffering from trench fever, an illness which was virtually crippling the British army at the time. However in due course he recovered, and was sent back to the mud and the gunfire in January 1918. After living through the bitterly cold and wet French winter with nothing but an Army regulation Greatcoat over his uniform to keep him warm, he found himself trapped in the German Spring Offensive. A week into this offensive, one of the darkest times of the entire war for the Allied forces, he was killed in action and never seen again.

He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France.

Ida Ingham

Thomas sister Ida married Herman Craven early in 1916, probably whilst he was on leave. Herman was captured and taken prisoner. He died in Josephstift Hospital on 5th June 1918. He is buried in Germany.

Ida is shown on 1939 registration census as still living at the family home at 28 Station Road, with her mother Harriet. Ada died in 1972 aged 85.