Very scarce WWI Pair to Household Battalion. Hatfield. Epworth, Lincoln/Durham & Leeds. Amputee 1918 with Coldstream Guards.

Correctly named 3259 Tpr JH Hatfield Household Bn

John Henry Hatfield was born to Henry and Emma in Epworth Lincolnshire in December 1885.

We see he married Ellen Wilson in 1906 and by 1911 he is living at West End, Seaton Ross near York and is working as a farm labourer.

He enlisted into the 1st Household Battalion in November 1915 when we see he is a Police Constabl. From here he moved to the Coldstream Guards in 1916 and is with these when he heads to France in November 1917 earning his pair.

The Household Battalion was an infantry battalion of the British army during the Great War. It was formed in September 1916 from the reserves of the Household Cavalry regiments (the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards) to help fill the every-increasing demands for infantry on the Western Front. Considerable effort was expended in the conversion of cavalrymen into infantry trained and equipped for trench warfare. The battalion spent its entire existence on the Western Front as part of the 4th Infantry Division, arriving as the Battle of the Somme was ending in early December 1916.  It fought in the Battle of Arras and later at Third Ypres, suffering severely in the assault on Poelcappelle. Its last major engagement was the Defence of Bourlon Ridge during the Battle of Cambrai in late 1917. By this time, it had become apparent that there were insufficient reserves to support all the Household Cavalry regiments that had been converted to infantry (in particular, the Guards Machine Gun Regiments) and it was disbanded as part of a general reorganization in February 1918.

Men of the battalion were paid cavalry rates of pay (a little more than infantry) and wore cavalry uniforms while on leave. The battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Wyndham Portal throughout the 14 months of its existence.

A wound report is found for John dated 30/11/1918. From further research we discover he was to have his right leg amputated at the thigh.

He was discharged from service in July 1919 and was awarded the Silver War Badge numbered B275793 (not present).

After his discharge, we find him in 1921 living at 73, Nile Street, Gateshead, Durham and working as a gatekeeper for the North Eastern Railways. States here his wife is called Winifred.

In 1935, his wife Ellen died and he was to marry Florence Page in 1939 where we find him living at 36 Tyas Grove in Leeds and working for the railways as a mess room attendant.

John died in 1958.

The medals have original silk ribbons.