Casualty Roll of Honour - Introduction

The purpose of this introduction is show a typical casualty entry and to describe where the information has been obtained.

The casualty entry for Arthur Boldison has been chosen and is shown below.

Boldison, Arthur
Lance Serjeant 540, "A" Coy. 1st/5th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own). Killed in action 14th July 1916. Aged 26. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Boldison, of York; husband of Hilda Boldison, of 3, Anne St., Bishopthorpe Rd. York. Buried Authuile Military Cemetery, Somme, France, H. 7. Arthur Boldison was awarded the Military Medal, the award was listed in the London Gazette on 19th February 1917. Commemorated on the St Clements Church War Memorial Scarcroft and in The King’s Book.

The casualty entries are summaries of information, typically taken from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website and from Soldier’s Died in the Great War (SDGW). The summaries also include details of any local memorials, or a listing in the King’s Book.

Arthur Boldison’s Commonwealth War Graves Commission details, taken from their website, look like this:

Name: BOLDISON
Initials: A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Lance Serjeant
Regiment/Service: West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
Unit Text: "A" Coy. 1st/5th Bn.
Age: 26
Date of Death: 14/07/1916
Service No: 540
Awards: M M
Additional information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Boldison, of York; husband of Hilda Boldison, of 3, Anne St., Bishopthorpe Rd. York.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: H. 7.
Cemetery: AUTHUILE MILITARY CEMETERY


Arthur Boldison is listed in the West Yorkshire Volume of Soldiers Died in the Great War (SDGW) published by J B Hayward. The entry for Arthur Boldison is as follows:

“Boldison, Arthur, b York, e York, 540 L/sgt., K. in A., F. & F. 14/716, MM”

Arthur Boldison is commemorated on the St Clements Church War Memorial, Scarcroft and in The King’s Book. His entry in the published list of men in the King’s Book is “Arthur Boldison; Lance Sergeant”

The CWGC information lists, under the awards section, MM, this mean that Arthur was awarded a Military Medal for gallantry in the field. All awards of gallantry medals were listed in the London Gazette (LG), the listing often occurred many months after the occasion for which the medal was awarded. This was the case for Arthur’s award as it was listed in the London Gazette (LG) on 19th February 1917, almost seven months after Arthur was killed. The LG entry is titled "His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Military Medal for bravery in the Field to the under mentioned Non-commissioned Officers and Men, since deceased, who have been killed in action or died of wounds subsequent to the date of the award of the Military Medal to them by the Commander-in-Chief in the Field.

“540 L./Sjt. A. Boldison, W. York. R.”

There are other sources of information which can be used to provide additional information about Arthur. The award of medals can be found on the Medal Index Card (MIC), these are held by the National Archives. A search for MICs made on the National Archives website, showed that there are two MICs for Arthur, one for the Military Medal and the second one detailing the campaign medals Arthur was awarded, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

The following scan shows the Military Medal MIC:

The MIC for the campaign medals is show below; Arthur’s surname is listed as Bolderson.

The MIC states the date and Theatre of War in which Arthur first served, France and 15th April 1915. The Roll number and page references along side the medals are references to the medal rolls which where prepared for each regiment.

The Battalion Diary for the 1/5th West Yorkshire has the following entry for the 14th July 1916:

“Repair and improvement of trenches. Bomb attack by 1/7th West Yorks in salient. Trenches very heavily shelled. 2/Lt Birbeck wounded. Killed 1 O.R. wounded 3 O.R. 2/Lt Macarty joined the Battn.”

Arthur Boldison was the 1 O.R. (Other Rank) killed by enemy artillery on 14th July 1916.

The following obituary was published in the Yorkshire herald on 5th August 1916:

“Mrs Boldison, of 3, Anne-street, Bishopthorpe-road, has received official intelligence that her husband, Sergeant Arthur Boldison, West Yorkshire Regiment, was killed in action on July 14th. The deceased, who was 24 years of age, was a son of Mrs Boldison, of 6 Middle Eldon-street, York and previous to the war was a goods porter on the North Eastern Railway. He was for eight years a member of the local Territorials, and was called up on mobilisation: he had been on active service since April 1915 and was only once home on leave, in July of last year.

Three brothers of the deceased are on active service, another attested under the Derby scheme and is now waiting to be called up, while a brother-in-law is also at the front. Private William Henry Boldison, West Yorkshire Regiment, was called up as a reserve, he having served as a regular for eight years; he is married, and before the war was following the occupation of painter.

Gunner Albert Boldison, Royal Garrison Artillery, was at one time a member of the York Heavy Battery Territorials, but completed his service some four years previous to the war. He rejoined soon after the declaration, was wounded in November last, and is now at his battery headquarters awaiting orders. He is a married man with one child.

Private Charles Henry Boldison, West Yorkshire Regiment, joined early in the war and is on active service as a stretcher bearer; he is a married man with three children.

Mr Harry Boldison, who carries on the business of hairdresser, attested under the Derby scheme, and will join the colours on the expiration of his term of exemption; he has a wife and a family of three children.

Gunner John Roberts, son-in-law of Mrs Boldison, is in the Royal Field Artillery; he is 27 years of age, and joined in April of last year, previous to which he was employed at Messrs. Rowntree’s works. He has three children.”


As detailed above Arthur was buried in Authille Military Cemetery, France. The following photo shows Arthur’s grave.