Name: Lawrence Judge
Rank: Private
Unit/Regiment: 1st/4th Battalion, The King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry)
Service Number: 200877
Date of Death: 24 July 1917
Cemetery: Coxyde Military Cemetery, Koksijde, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Lawrence Judge was born on 4 March 1882 at Wild Boar Street, Bradford.1 His parents were Irish-born Patrick Judge and his wife Kate (née Madden). She too was born in Bradford, but of Irish descent. At the time, Patrick worked as a musician, though in the previous year the census recorded his occupation as a mason. Patrick’s occupation as a professional musician was later reaffirmed when Lawrence married.
Patrick and Kate married at St Mary’s RC Church, Bradford, in January 1876, with Patrick’s surname at this point recorded as Braheny.2 Another form of the family name, Brehenney, was the name used when their firstborn, Mary Elizabeth, was baptised in the same church in April 1876.3 However, for civil registration purposes the anglicised version of Brehenney, Judge, was used. This anglicised form of the surname was adopted thereafter by the family both in parish and civil records.
The couple’s first son, Andrew, was born in 1877; James Patrick arrived in 1879 (he died shortly afterwards); then came Sarah Ellen in 1880, followed by Lawrence. All these children were baptised at Bradford St Mary’s RC Church, with family addresses including Irving Street, Wharf Street, Raven Street and Arthur Street, as well as Wild Boar Street .
Daughter Jane, born in 1883,4 was baptised at Bradford St Joseph’s in 1883, with the family moving to Duncan Street, off Manchester Road in the Little Horton area of Bradford a short time after Lawrence’s birth. By the time another son, Patrick, was born in 1885 the family lived in Huddersfield. Two years later, with the birth of Thomas in December 1887, they were in Batley.5
Thomas survived only two months, with the family living at Newsome’s Fold, Commercial Street at the time of his death.6 Then on 5 July 1889 Patrick died, aged 43.7 Kate was pregnant. She gave birth to their final child, Annie Agnes, in October 1889, but this infant died the following summer, aged nine months.
Later that year Kate married John Cunningham. The 1891 census recorded 26-year-old coal miner John, and wife Kate (34) living at 3, Yard 2, Commercial Street. Also in the household were Kate’s surviving children – Mary, Andrew, Sarah Ellen, Lawrence, Jane and Patrick. But this family unit did not endure. In August 1894 Kate died, and the family split up.
The 1901 census records coal miner (hewer) Lawrence boarding at 5, Scargill Fold, Batley with James and Annie Horan. His brother, Andrew, was another of the Horan’s boarders. Incidentally, James and Annie Horan were the parents of St Mary of the Angels War Memorial man Michael Horan. They also were godparents of St Mary of the Angels baptised Annie Agnes Judge.8
Another brother, Patrick (Paddy) Judge, was boarding at 6A, Scargill Fold, with Wilfred and Agnes Rhodes. He went on to play rugby league for Batley;9 whilst Jane Judge was in the Cobden Street household of William Henry and Rebecca Mitchell, described as their daughter.
Lawrence lived at the same Scargill Fold address and still worked as a coal miner in April 1904, when he married Margaret Donlan at St Mary of the Angels.10 Margaret’s brother Thomas Donlan was another parishioner to be killed in the Great War.
A little over a month after their marriage, they welcomed a daughter, Catherine.11 In November 1905 another daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born. Initially it was feared she would not survive, but she did pull through.12 Their first son, Thomas, was born in October 1907. In March 1910 the couple had another son, Laurence, but he died in April 1913.
At the time of the 1911 census, the family lived at 50, Hume Street, with Margaret working as a rag sorter and Lawrence as coal miner, filling corves. It is possible this was at Howley Park Colliey, because at the time of his death the newspaper reported he had worked there for several years.13 Lawrence’s Irish heritage is clear in this census, with the form annotated to say he was English-born of Irish descent.
In February 1912 daughter Margaret was born. The couple’s final child was a son, John Patrick, born in March 1914. Less than five months later the country was at war.
Although Lawrence enlisted in November 1914, it was not until August 1916 that he went out to France.14 This was a month or so after the opening of the Battle of the Somme with reinforcements urgently required as a result of the high casualty rates. His will, dated 23 August 1916, is likely to have been written at around the time of his overseas posting as a Private with the 1st/4th KOYLI. He would be dead within the year.
On 12 July 1917 the Germans introduced a new type of gas weapon to the Salient area – mustard gas, or dichlor-diethyl sulphide to give it its chemical name.
This new development in chemical warfare was a powerful irritant and blistering agent, which damaged eyes, the respiratory tract and rapidly caused contact injury to the skin, even seeping through clothing. Because it could be absorbed through the skin, even through woollen uniforms, gas masks were now of no use. And unlike earlier gases such as chlorine and phosgene which dissipated over several hours, mustard gas settled in the soil, and could continue to contaminate long after contacting materials.
Delivered in shells, it had what was described as a garlic/mustard smell. The immediate effects were slight irritation of the nose and throat. Sneezing and vomiting followed. It could also cause headaches and stomach pains.
But the effects of chemical burning developed and could take longer to appear. The eyes became acutely inflamed and very painful, with severe conjunctivitis resulting in cases. Inhalation resulted in coughing and, in severe cases, a build up of fluid on the lungs, bronchitis, bronchitis-pneumonia, and scar tissue in the lungs. These breathing problems could persist.
Then there was the damage to the skin, with large blisters developing with the most severely affected areas being ones prone to increased perspiration. The degree of skin damage could vary from a discolouration to a severe destruction of all the skin tissue, leaving marks resembling scalds. Fatally injured victims could take weeks to die after exposure.
The same month the Germans introduced this new chemical agent to the field, the 1st/4th KOYLI moved to the coastal area in the north of France and Belgium. By the 18 July they occupied the Nieuport15 defences on the Belgian coast, north of Ypres.
Their Unit War Diary notes at 11pm on 21 July, after great enemy aerial activity throughout the whole day, the “enemy heavily bombarded Nieuport with shells of all calibres, including a large quantity of Gas Shells for about 15 minutes.”16 Another 15-minute bombardment rained down on Nieuport at midnight, and again at 2am on 22 July.
These bombardments included a large quantity of the new mustard gas shells which drenched Nieuport and surrounding areas. The Unit War Diary states:
These gases were the chief cause of the large number of casualties sustained by the Battalion on the night of 21/22 July.17
It notes seven other ranks killed and a further nine wounded on that night. There is a separate entry specifically for gas casualties which notes nine officers and 413 other ranks wounded by gas, with a further three other ranks missing, believed to be wounded by gas.18
Later, on the 22 July, two officers and 114 other ranks who had remained behind the lines at Coxyde joined to reinforce the battalion, such was the number of casualties incurred.
The shelling continued on 23 July, including once more with gas. This resulted in more casualties, noted in the diary as one other rank killed, with gas accounting for the wounding of three officers and a further 73 other ranks.19
The battalion were finally relieved on 24 July, a day which saw another 34 other ranks wounded by gas.20
Lawrence was amongst those in the battalion fatally wounded by gas in this period. He died in Belgium on 24 July whilst being treated by the 91st Field Ambulance.21 These Field Ambulances were mobile front line medical units manned by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps. They were responsible for establishing and operating a number of points along the casualty evacuation chain. Their Unit War Diary noted the strain being placed on them by the gas attacks. On 22 July it recorded:
Commencing at 5am cases of gas shell poisoning commenced to arrive from the line. Up to noon 377 were counted in and there was no slackening … suffering from Diarrhoea, vomiting, and congested eyes. Between 5am and midnight admissions roughly 2300. Mostly 49th Division.22 At 8am a message came from Capt STARK at ADS23 that 200 cases were waiting to be brought down. The men say the smell is not unpleasant rather resembling mustard.24
The gas cases were still arriving at 91st Field Ambulance the day Lawrence died.
Margaret first heard news of her husband’s death from an unofficial source, but she did not accept it as final until she received official confirmation. The confirmation duly came, stating that his death occurred abroad on 24 July 1917 and was due to injuries caused by “gas”.25
His officer, in a sympathetic letter to Margaret, wrote:
Your husband was a good soldier, both in the line and out. A hard worker, and liked by all who knew him, he will be much missed by the Company and his friends in other units.26
Lawrence’s informal will stated the whole of his property and effects were to be given to his wife, Margaret Judge, living at 34 Hume Street. In addition to this, in 1918 she was awarded a pension of 31s 3d a week for her and her five surviving children.27 This, though, was no financial recompense for the loss of a husband and main breadwinner.
Like many war widows, she would find life tougher than ever. Perhaps this is one of the reasons she found herself in court in October 1918, receiving a 10s fine for failing to send her son, Thomas, to school regularly.28
Lawrence Judge is buried in Coxyde Military Cemetery, Belgium. He was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal. In addition to St Mary’s, he is also remembered on Batley War Memorial.
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Footnotes:
1. Birth certificate.
2. Bradford St Mary’s RC Church, Parish Register.
3. Ibid.
4. Bradford St Joseph’s RC Church, Parish Register.
5. Batley St Mary of the Angels RC Church, Parish Register.
6. Batley Cemetery Burial Register.
7. Dewsbury Chronicle & West Riding Advertiser, 13 July 1889.
8. Batley St Mary of the Angels RC Church, Parish Register.
9. Batley Reporter & Guardian, 17 August 1917.
10. Marriage certificate
11. Batley St Mary of the Angels RC Church, Parish Register.
12. Ibid.
13. Batley Reporter & Guardian, 17 August 1917.
14. Ibid.
15. This Belgian city is now known as Nieuwpoort
16. Unit War Diary, 1/4th KOYLI, The National Archives (TNA), WO95/2806/1.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Probate records.
22. The Division with which the 1st/4th KOYLI served.
23. Advanced Dressing Station.
24. Unit War Diary, 91st Field Ambulance, TNA WO95/2386/2.
25. Batley Reporter & Guardian, 17 August 1917.
26. Batley News, 21 July 1917.
27. Pension Record Cards and Ledgers
28. Batley Borough Court Records.
Other Sources:
• Army Nurses Care for Mustard Gas Patients During WWI, https://e-anca.org/History/Topics-in-ANC-History/Mustard-WWI
• Batley Cemetery Burial Registers.
• Bond, Reginald C. History of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in the Great War, 1914-1918. London: P. Lund, Humphries, 1929.
• Censuses, England & Wales – 1881 to 1921.
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
• GRO Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes.
• Johnson, Malcolm K. Saturday Soldiers: The Territorial Battalions of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry 1/4th 1/5th 5th 2/4th 2/5th, 1908-1919. Doncaster: Doncaster Museum Service, 2004.
• Know Your World War I Chemical Weapons, https://sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/a-brief-history-of-chemical-war/
• Medal Index Card.
• Medal Award Rolls.
• Parish Registers – various.
• Pension Record Cards and Ledgers, Western Front Association.
• Report on Mustard Gas, from a Report of the Chemical Warfare Medical Committee on medical aspects of mustard gas production, (Catalogue ref: WO 142/330), https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/medicine-on-the-western-front-part-two/report-on-mustard-gas/
• Soldiers Died in the Great War.
• Soldiers’ Effects Register.
• The Long, Long Trail website.
• The Problems with mustard gas, https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/problems-mustard-gas/
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