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| Private Riley Haworth |
East Lancashire Regiment,
Killed in Action,
18th October 1916,
Age 21
Commemorated Thiepval Memorial.
Private Riley Haworth 24608 of the 1st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment was killed in action at El Transloy, south east of Bapaume in France, on 18 October 1916. He was the younger brother of Pte.William Haworth (See 9) and lived with his parents at 11 Whittaker Terrace. He attended St.Stephen’s Church and the Mission Room and was a member of the choir. In September 1916 the Battalion returned to the Somme after a short period of duty near Ypres. They went into the trenches at Le Transloy. On 18th October the Battalion attacked the German trenches. Because heavy rain had fallen for weeks (it continued throughout the attack) the ground they had to cover was a vast lake of mud, pitted with shell-holes. The night was pitch black and the men, laden with heavy equipment, made slow progress. Many became utterly exhausted and were shot down, drowned in flooded shell-holes or were taken prisoner. Heavy machine-gun fire caused more casualties. The survivors had to withdraw to their own trenches. Eighteen men were killed, fifty-eight wounded and 292 were reported missing. Some would become prisoners of war but many, Pte Haworth amongst them, were killed. Pte Haworth’s body was never found. His name, therefore, is inscribed on the ‘Thiepval Memorial to the Missing’. The memorial is some four miles (6.5 Kms) north-east of Albert. It stands on a rise overlooking the battlefields. It is in the form of a triumphant arch and is of brick with limestone facings and panels. On the panels are inscribed the names of over 73,000 men who died on the Somme battlefields and have no known grave. Pte.Haworth’s is but one of over 700 East Lancashire Regiment men named. Thirty eight other Haslingden men are also named on the memorial
Newspaper Report:
A LOSS TO GRANE - PRIVATE RILEY HAWORTH KILLED IN THE MONTH IN WHICH HE WAS REPORTED MISSING.
Word has reached us that Private Riley Haworth, East Lancashire Regiment, of Whittaker Terrace, Haslingden, who had been missing since last October was killed in action on the 18th of October.
Some of his comrades say that he conducted himself during the action with great gallantry.
He was ready and willing to do what he could for the parish, being a regular attender at the services of the church and mission room, and a member of the choir. The vicar the Rev. E.H. Murdoch speaks highly of the work which he did at Grane.
