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| Pte George Smith Pyle |
East Lancashire Regiment,
Killed in Action,
13th June 1915,
Age 26,
Buried Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery.
Newspaper Report:
The news that Private George Smith Pyle (481)of the 5th East Lancs Regt., has been killed in action in the Dardanelles, has caused great regret in Haslingden and district. Private Pyle was 26 years of age. Grandson of the late Mr. G.S. Pyle, painter and decorator of Manchester Road, and son of Mr. William Pyle, of 18 Heys Street, decorator, deceased was a member of a well known and highly esteemed local family. The grandfather was for many years a warden at Haslingden Parish Church and served in the 60th Rifles. The deceased was brought up at the Parish Church day and Sunday schools, and from boyhood his genial nature made him a favourite. His patriotic nature asserted itself by his being identified with the Haslingden Church Lads Brigade, which has made a large contribution of young men who have entered the service of their country. In Sunday school work he gave promise of being a useful helper. He attended regularly the Parish Church and the Mission Chapel, and distinguished himself by his readiness to help in any way he could and by the completeness with which he discharged any duty he undertook. He would recite at parties, or he would see that the scholars in the gallery remained orderly during service. He served his apprenticeship as a painter and decorator with his father, becoming thus one of the third of the generation of Pyle who has followed this trade in Haslingden. Then he joined the Haslingden Company of Territorials. Later on he went to work for Mr. Jno. Whitehead of Cloughfold, and only in February of last year he married Miss Maria Rothwell, daughter of Mr. Robert Rothwell, of 66, Schofield Road, Rawtenstall. When the Territorials were mobilised he volunteered for foreign service and went into training, first at Burnley and then at Bury. Whilst serving in the Dardenelles he wrote home frequently, and his wife received a letter from him only three weeks before the news of his death arrived.
Among the many messages of sympathy received by the family is one sent to the deceased's father and mother by Mr. C.H. Heathcote, headmaster of the Church day school, who had known the deceased intimately as a scholar in both the day and the Sunday Schools. Writing on behalf of himself and the day school staff, Mr. Heathcote says that whilst they sorrow over the loss of George Smith Pyle, when they think of him and of other brave lads whom they have known and who are now serving their country, their hearts are filled with gratitude.
The hope is expressed that the father and mother will find comfort on High to support them in this great trouble.
Newspaper Memorials:
"Often we pause to think of you,
And think of how you died;
To think you could not say goodbye,
Before you closed your eyes."
"His duty nobly done,
Eternal peace now won."
From loving Father and Mother.
"He sleeps besides his comrades,
In a hallowed grave unknown;
But his name is written in letters of love,
In the hearts he left at home.
May the heavenly wind blow softly,
On that sweet and hallowed spot,
Though the sea divides his grave from us,
He will never be forgot."
Sadly missed by his dear Father and Mother.
"Somewhere abroad in a soldier's grave,
Lie two dear brothers among the brave;
From eartly cares to heavenly rest,
Missed by those who loved them best.
No loved ones stood beside them,
To hear their last farewell;
No words of comfort could they have,
From those who loved them best."
From Brother and Sister.
"How can I cease to pray for thee? Somewhere
In God's great universe thou art to-day;
Can he not reach thee with His tender care.
Can He not hear me when for thee I pray.
"What matters it to Him who holds within,
The hollow of His hand all worlds, all space.
That thou art done with earthly pain and sin?
Somewhere within His ken thou hast a place.
Somewhere thou livest, and hast need of Him;
Somewhere thy soul sees higher heights to climb;
And somewhere still there may be valleys dim,
That thou must pass to reach the hills sublime!
Then all the more, because thou canst not hear,
Poor human words of blessing, will I pray,
O, true brave heart; God bless thee, where- so'er,
In God's great universe thou art today.
From his loving Father and Mother, Sister and Brother, William Arthur (in Palestine).
"Two loving sons and brothers dear,
And faithful friends when they were here;
They lived in hope and died in peace,
We hope their joys will never cease.
From loving father and mother, brothers and sister.
