L/Corporal Thomas Edwin Snowden
Name: Thomas (‘Ted’) Edwin Snowden
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 15143
Date of Death: 27/05/1918
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Yorkshire Regiment, 5th Bn.
Commemorated: Grave Reference: I. I. 18. Cemetery: Hangard Communal Cemetery Extension
Additional CWGC Information: son of Edwin Snowden, of 63 Dean Rd, Scarborough.
For some reason, Ted’s name was not recorded on Scarborough’s Oliver’s Mount War Memorial until 2010, though his service and sacrifice had been noted elsewhere.
According to research carried out by Paul Allen, Ted Snowden was born at 18 Sandringham Street in Scarborough on 16 December 1896, the only son of hay and straw dealer Edwin Snowden and wife Hannah, formerly Hepworth.
He was baptised in the town’s Jubilee Methodist Chapel on 3 February 1897 and his name had been included on a “roll of honour” that had been displayed in the foyer of that building until its demise in 1970 when it was demolished to make way for a building that today is Scarborough’s Job Centre.
The whereabouts of that memorial to the men of the church who lost their lives during the Great War is not known.
An apprentice electrician and living in Seamer when war broke out, Ted enlisted into the army at Scarborough soon after the German naval bombardment of the town in December 1914. Joining the Yorkshire Regiment, he initially served with the 10th Battalion and received his “baptism of fire” during the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Fortunate not to be among more than 300 casualties suffered by the Battalion at Loos, Ted went on to serve with this unit throughout the Somme offensive of 1916 and the Third Battle of Ypres and Arras Offensive of 1917.
By the end of 1917, the battle-worn 10th Battalion was stationed in France at Moislains but, at the start of February the following year, the unit was disbanded in an army reorganisation. Its officers and men were posted to other units of the Yorkshire Regiment, with Ted joining the 5th Battalion. After two years of service on the Western Front, he returned to Seamer on 14 March 1918 to enjoy some leave, but was recalled back to France soon after, probably due to the beginning of the German Spring Offensives. A postcard to his family back home, telling them that he had arrived safely, was the last they would hear from him. Relatives were told Ted had been killed in action on 25 May 1918 and although that is the date recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Mr Allen says the evidence suggests he was probably killed before this date, perhaps soon after rejoining the regiment on the Somme, not long after the start of the German Spring Offensive.
The remains of Ted Snowden can be found in Section 1, Row I, Grave 18 in Hangard Communal Cemetery, which is around five kilometres south of Viller-Bretonneux.
Although the Jubilee Methodist Chapel roll of honour has long since gone, Ted’s name has been included on a brass plate roll of honour that to this day can be found in Seamer’s St Martin’s Church.
Mr Allen said: “Writing [my] book has been an incredibly humbling experience and it’s a privilege to be able to share these many stories of courage and bravery. I also feel incredibly proud that my research has led to the inclusion of Lance Corporal Snowden’s name on Scarborough’s main war memorial.”
Ted Snowden’s nephew, John Snowden, a retired electrician from Mansfield said: “I am very pleased to have my uncle’s name included on the Scarborough war memorial. Ted was my dad’s hero and was never forgotten within the family. Aged just 21 when he died, his place on the war memorial is justly deserved and I am very grateful to Mr Allen for his help in ensuring that my uncle’s name will be seen by generations to come.”
John Anderson from the Scarborough branch of the Royal British Legion said: “It is fitting that Lance Corporal Snowden’s name could be added to the Oliver’s Mount monument in time for Remembrance Sunday. He will be in our thoughts and prayers, along with the many hundreds of servicemen and women from Scarborough who have served their country proud.”
Image and additional information sourced from: http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/forgotten-hero-is-finally-honoured-1-2754879
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