Pte. A.B. Calvert

FIRST NAMES: Anthony Bowman

UNIT: 4th Yorkshire Regiment

NUMBER: 200100

STATUS: Killed in Action

DATE OF DEATH: 27th May 1918

CEMETERY OR MEMORIAL: The Soissons Memorial, France

AGE: 28


Private Calvert was born in North Ormesby. His parents names were John and Anne Calvert and he lived at No.1 Vine Cottages, Northallerton before joining the army.

In April 1918, after helping to stem the huge advances made by the Germans on the Lys and the Somme, the 50th Division of which the 4th Yorkshire Regiment was a part, was transferred to the French 6th Army to rest and recuperate in a "quiet" part of the Front near Soissons. Unfortunately this was exactly the area in which the Germans had planned to strike next and after a three and a half hour artillery bombardment they attacked the British and French lines in overwhelming numbers in the early hours of 27th May 1918. The attack was an overwhelming success and many of the Allied casualties were never identified as their positions were overrun and their bodies presumably buried as quickly as possible by the victorious Germans. Private Calvert was included among that number and he is now commemorated on the Soissons Memorial to The Missing, having been killed at the age of 28.