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| Pte William Greenwood |
East Lancashire Regiment,
Killed in action,
30th July 1916,
Commemorated Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Private William Greenwood 24954 of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, was killed in action in Belgium on 30 July 1916. Pte.Greenwood was the son of Mr Lawrence and Mrs.Isobel Greenwood. He was one of five brothers, all members of a well-known and respected Grane family. On 27 July 1916 the Battalion travelled by train to the Ypres area after taking part in the opening days of the Battle of the Somme which commenced on 1st July. Whilst awaiting orders to go into action against German forces near the Yser Canal they were encamped behind the lines near Elverdinge Chateau. German long range artillery fire was only sporadic, but on odd occasions a salvo of heavy shells landed on the chateau and caused casualties. Pte.Greenwood was killed on one of these occasions. Pte. Greenwood was buried by his comrades, but his grave, like thousands of others in the area, was later destroyed in subsequent battles. His body was never recovered. Because of this his name is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Missing. This memorial spans one of the two main gateways of the old town of Ypres. The names of 54,365 men who died in the Ypres battles between October 1914 and August 1917 and have no known graves are inscribed on panels inside the archway and the stairways leading to the ramparts of the Town Wall. 303 men of the East Lancashire Regiment are named. Also on this memorial are the names of twenty five other Haslingden men.
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| Pte Wm Greenwood - Census Information - Click over to enlarge |
