Harold OLDFIELD

81419, Private. b. 1894, Halifax d. 20th October 1918 (aged 26).

Harold had grown up in Clayton Heights, just up the hill from the main village itself, but at some point after leaving school had left the area to go and work for the Great Northern Railways.
His service number indicates to us that he did not join up early on in the war but was either medically unfit to be accepted earlier or else was conscripted in 1916. Whatever his circumstances he became part of ‘B’ Company of the 1st/8th West Yorkshire’s, who were otherwise known as the Leeds Rifles. At the time of his death the German army was retreating, and it is sad to say that his end came just a mere three weeks before the armistice was declared.

His wife, Mary Agnes Oldfield moved back up to Clayton Heights, to 12, Smithy Fold and within a couple of years had married a returning soldier to the area called Hird.

Harold is buried at Quievy Communal Cemetery, Nord, France.