Saturday 6 June 2015

Holt, Edwin - Private (59731)

Private Edwin Holt
4th Battalion,
The King's (Liverpool Regiment),
Killed in Action,
24th October 1918,
Age 40,
Buried Poix-Du-Nord Communal Cemetery Extension.

Newspaper Report:

News has been received of the death in action of Private E. Holt, King's Liverpool Regiment.  The following letter has been received by his mother from an officer in his company:-
Dear Mrs. Holt, - It is a very painful duty for me to have to write and inform you of your son's death in action on October 24th.  The company came under very heavy enemy shell fire, and your son was hit and died instantly.  It may be some little consolation for you to know that he died doing his duty, and could have suffered no pain.
During my stay with the company he has always impressed me as an excellent chap, who could be relied upon to do any job, however dangerous, thoroughly and well.  Many men who have been wounded owe the saving of their lives to him, for he always showed a total disregard of danger when anyone required attention.
By his death we have suffered great loss, and though it is impossible for us to realise what a loss you have suffered, we all offer you our deepest sympathy in your great sorry.  Yours very sincerely, W.H. LEWIS, Sec Lieut. C Coy., 4th Kings.

The deceased soldier was 40 years of age and resided at 4 Peel Street, Haslingden.  He was the eldest of three brothers serving and in civil life was in the employ of Rushton's slaters etc., of Bacup.
His name is on the roll of honour at St. Jame's Parish Church, He had been in France about ten months. Another brother is in hospital at Sheffield and one still in France.

Newspaper Memorials:

In ever loving remembrance of our dear son and brother, Private Edwin Holt (King's Liverpool Regiment), killed in action, October 24th 1918, and was interred at Poix Du Nord, near Le Cateau, France.

"Dear boy, when evening shadows fall,
And working hours go by,
I long to hear your step again,
And wish that you were nigh.

But you have answered duty's call,
And pride keeps back my tears;
But I hope to meet you in that land,
Where partings have no fears."

Sadly missed by his mother and brothers, Dick and Tom, 4 Peel Street.

"Thy voice is now silent, thy heart is now cold,
Where thy smile and thy welcome oft' met us of old;
We miss thee, we mourn thee, in silence unseen,
And dwell in the memory of joys that have been."

Ever remembered by his sister and brother in law, Station Road, Helmshore.

"Beyond all care, beyond all pain,
Beyond life's mystery;
Beyond the range of time and change,
My loved one waits for me."

"Ever in my thoughts."

Never forgotten by his fiance, Lizzie, 7a Bright Street, Crewe.

"Farewell, dear mother, sister and brothers all,
I've gone to obey the Saviour's call;
I tried in France to do my best,
Now I've gone to eternal rest.

We think of him in silence,
No eye may see us weep;
But ever in our aching hearts,
His memory we will keep."

Ever remembered by his sorrowing Mother and Brothers Dick and Tom (in France), 4 Peel Street, Haslingden.

"Sleep on, dear brother, in a soldier's grave,
No flower may we place on the spot where you lie;
For the still dark waters do keep us apart,
But your over dear face will live in our hearts."

Never forgotten by his loving Sister and Brother in Law, Leah and Tom, 11 Station Road, Helmshore.

"Could I have raised his dying head,
Or heard his last farewell,
The grief would not have been so hard to hear,
By one who loved him well."

Sadly missed by his loving Sweetheart Lizzie, 7a Bright Street, Crewe.