THE STRICKEN BRAVE
SEC.-LIEUT. MICHAEL HAROLD WEBSTER, West Yorkshire Regiment, killed in action on July 1, was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Webster, of 3 The Hollies, Tong Road, Armley, Leeds. He was educated at the West Leeds High School, and took his B.A. degree at the Leeds University, joining the O.T.C. there. He enlisted as a private in the Highland Light Infantry on June 14, 1915, and served with that regiment in France for about five months, when he received a commission. He returned to the Front on June 15 last (1916) being posted to the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own). His unit was the 13th battalion attached to the 16th ( The Bradford Pals)[2]. He was 22 years of age. His only brother, Willis Webster, is serving with the R.F.A.(Royal Field Artillery)
He was awarded the 1914/15 Star for service on the Western Front.
Michael is commemorated on the University of Leeds War Memorial and with Willis, is commemorated on the West Leeds High School War Memorial and Thiepval memorial.

Bombardier MATTHEW WILLIS WEBSTER ( known as "Willis" ) was born in Wortley in 1897. Joined the Royal Horse Artillery and was part of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) Territorial Force . (Battalion / Unit: 62nd Division Ammunition Column Division: 62nd (2/West Riding) Division). He served in France and Flanders and was killed in action, aged 21, on 15 /3/1918.
He is commemorated at Aubigny Communal Cemetetry Extension , Pas de Calais , France.

Ordinary Seaman Peter Howden, RN.
Peter was the eldest of three brothers, all of whom attended West Leeds High School. He was born in Stockport in 1923 to Reginald D. Howden and his wife, Doris (née Binks).
By 1939, the family lived at 23 Armley Grange Oval, Leeds. Reginald's occupation was a yarn salesman and assistant spinning manager. At the time the 1939 Register (Census) [1] was recorded, Peter and his brothers were not living at that address; they may have been evacuated with their school to Retford.
He joined the RN as an Ordinary seaman and served aboard HMS Blean with a crew of 168. Blean was a Type III Hunt-class escort destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after the Blean Beagles Hunt, located in the village of Blean, just north of Canterbury. Notably, she had the shortest career among all the Hunt-class destroyers.
HMS Blean was built at Hawthorn Leslie in Hebburn-on-Tyne. She was laid down on 22 February 1941, launched on 15 January 1942, and officially commissioned on 23 August 1942. After working up at Scapa Flow, followed by some repairs on the Thames, she escorted a convoy to Gibraltar arriving on 2 November 1942. She then joined the 58th Destroyer Division escorting Operation Torch convoys. While escorting the British convoy MKF-4 off the Algerian coast, Blean was torpedoed by U-443 [3] on 11 December 1942 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Oran. The U-boat aimed one torpedo against her and then one against the convoy, but both hit Blean and she sank within four minutes. Peter, aged 19, was among the 89 members of the crew who went down with the ship.
He is commemorated at Chatham Naval Memorial.

HMS Blean, L47

Flight Sergeant William B. James DFM

Died 11 Nov 1944.

Read his story in The Last Flight of Q for Queenie.

Notes:
[1] The 1939 Register was conducted on September 29, 1939. The information gathered was used to produce identity cards and, once rationing was introduced in January 1940, to issue ration books.
[2] The 16th Btn West Yorks was the 1st Bradford Btn, known as the Bradford pals. They first saw action at Serre on the Somme and suffered heavy casualties from enemy shelling at the outset of the battle.
[3] U443, commanded by Lt. Von Puttkammer, was itself sunk on 23 Feb 1943 by British escort destroyers in the Western Mediterranean, with the loss of all 48 crew.