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Harold Postill
Matters changed at the beginning of July when they moved into bivouacs near Albert. On the 3rd, they moved into reserve trenches and made a successful attack on enemy-
The beginning of October saw the 9th Yorkshires back in the trenches coming under heavier attack than over the last couple of months. On 7th October 1916 they took part in a Battalion attack on Le Sars which was entirely successful. However 2 officers and 15 men were killed together with about 100 wounded and missing. Among the dead was Harold Postill.
Harold’s body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. In Malton he is remembered on the Town Memorial and in St Leonard’s Church.
They moved into the trenches on 16th September and while they came under heavy bombardment, had practically no casualties until mid-
New Year’s Day 1916 saw a successful raid on the German front line with two killed and 15 wounded of a party of 100 men, and throughout January they came under heavy bombardment in the trenches. From February to June a remarkably terse War Diary reports a continued pattern of billet life interspersed by short periods in trenches-
According to the census form Rachel had been married 41 years and had had 13 children, 9 of whom survived. It is also noteworthy that Harold is described as delicate which suggests that he may well not have signed up immediately. However at some point he joined 9th (Service) Battalion, The Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment), signing up in Malton which would imply that he was probably not in the initial group of men who were recruited in Richmond in September 1914.
The Battalion trained in the south of England and left Bramshot for Boulogne on the 25th of August 1915 reaching billets at Norbecourt on 1st September, before moving to the Merris-
Harold Postill was the third son of Joseph and Rachel (nee Mercer) Postill and his birth was registered in the second quarter of 1896 in the Pickering area (Ebberston). Joseph and Rachel married in New Malton on 8th March 1874 and had at least eleven children
During the early years of their marriage they lived in Malton but seem to have moved to Pickering between 1881 and 1884 and again to Ebberston by 1888, and they were still in Ebberston in 1901.
1901 Census – resident at Ebberston
POSTILL, Joseph, Head, Married, M, 55, N E Ry Platelayer, New Malton Yorkshire,
POSTILL, Rachel, Wife, Married, F, 45, , Brawby Yorkshire,
POSTILL, Adelaide, Daughter, Single, F, 12, , Ebberston Yorkshire,
POSTILL, Walter, Son, Single, M, 11, , Ebberston Yorkshire,
POSTILL, Henry, Son, Single, M, 7, , Ebberston Yorkshire,
POSTILL, Harold, Son, , M, 4, , Ebberston Yorkshire,
POSTILL, Elizabeth, Daughter, , F, 2, , Ebberston Yorkshire,
Joseph died during the last quarter of 1908 in the Pickering area aged 62 and by 1911 Rachel and her remaining children had moved back to Malton and were living in Ryder Square (now Greengate Flats).
1911 Census – resident at 4 Ryder Square, Malton
POSTILL, Rachel, Head, Widow, F, 58, , Yorks Brawby,
POSTILL, Adlaid, Daughter, Single, F, 23, , Yorks Ebberston,
POSTILL, Harold, Son, , M, 15, None (Delicate), Yorks Ebberston,
POSTILL, Elizabeth, Daughter, , F, 12, School, Yorks Ebberston,