The Missing Scout’s Memorial

A couple of years ago, when I was in our Group’s Church, I was looking at the plaque on the wall which commemorates the Scouts from our Troop that died in the Great War (First World War). I decided to try and find out more about them as they were the pioneers of our Group and without them we wouldn’t be here (in more ways than one if you think about it!).

Memorial (Medium)

So I started to look them all up on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s web site and put together our own online memorial to them. A couple were a bit difficult to locate and I’ve made a couple of educated ‘guesses’ about the details, but one or two escaped me.

Yesterday, I was able to find the last one. A chap who has been researching the details of the people listed on the Wolstanton War Memorial got in touch with me as he’d been looking at the Porthill one as well and was interested in the memorial I’d put together.

He found the details of the missing Scout, Harold Bailey, in an old issue of the local newspaper

Sentinel 28th September 1918
Harold Bailey killed in action on the 25th March 1918 of the KOYLI eldest son of the late Charles Frederick Bailey of Porthill & Tunstall, he was aged 19.

So I looked him up on the CWGC website and there he was.

Interestingly, he was killed 4 days before, and I assume in the same battle, as my Great Grandfather and is also commemorated at the same memorial in France. Neither have a know grave, although I  am looking forward to when the Red Cross’s WW1 casualty records become available.

I did look to see if Harold was mentioned in a hand written book I have which lists all the names of the boys in the Troop in 1909 or 1910 (see here , but beware, it is a large download), but he isn’t. In fact only one of the Scouts killed in WW1 is mentioned and that was Joseph W Simpson, who, interestingly is commemorated at the Basra Memorial. Shows how time may go on, but some things don’t change.

I’m glad I‘ve found this last Scout, as they all deserve to be remembered properly by the current members of the Group.