South Yorkshire Times, December 8th 1933
First To Fall
Wombwell War Memory Revived
Who was the first Wombwell man to fall in the Great War? By a trick of fate, the question has been revived by a wedding! The son of a fallen soldier took his bride to the altar at Wombwell Parish Church on Saturday. He was Mr. Joseph Utley, son of the late Mr. Arthur Utley, 20, Windmill Road, Wombwell.
When war broke out in August, 1914, many Wombwell men of the Army Reserve were called from the mine to military service, and within a few days were under fire. It is generally supposed that the first Wombwell man to make the supreme sacrifice was Mr. Arthur Utley, who was a private in D. Company, 2nd Battalion. King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was called up as a Reservist, and stationed for a brief spell at Hull. It was arranged that before crossing to France he should visit his wife and four small children, but something prevented that. His battalion were rushed across the Channel and his family circle saw him no more. After he had written one or two letters telling of his “safe” arrival there was a long silence, followed, after six weeks, by the sad telegram.
As far as Mrs. Utley can remember, she was the first in Wombwell to receive the tragic official message, with the familiar addition: “The King commands me to assure you of the true sympathy of His Majesty and the Queen in your great sorrow.” Mrs. Utley still has the telegram, worn by frequent handling. At the end of the message is the name “Kitchener.” She has lost a second husband since then, but the telegram is the symbol of memories dearest to her. The battalion in which he served took a heavy knock, stemming the first German rush, and he must have been lost “somewhere in France” long before she received the telegram on October 16th, 1914. Mr. Utley was one of five brothers, of whom the war took heavy toll. Two, Arthur and Joseph. were killed, Thomas Harold lingered between life and death for a long time in a French hospital, and has since died from the effect of wounds; Jack has returned to Wombwell Main after service in many countries; and Charles Henry was “demobbed” at the end of the war, and now lives at Hull. Mrs. Arthur Utley’s “little family” are growing up. but they remember their father with affection and pride.