| Born |
November 7, 1897
|
| Died |
July 26, 1917, Age 19
|
| Force |
Army
|
| Division |
2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment
|
| Home Address |
88 Chestnut Park Road
[Map]
|
John Freeland entered UTS in September 1910 and graduated four years later. He immediately joined the Royal Military College in Kingston, and in December 1915 became a lieutenant in Alexandra, Princess of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment. In June 1916, he went overseas to France, and the following month he was wounded at Trones Wood in the Battle of the Somme. After three months’ leave in Canada to allow his damaged left hand and wrist to heal, he returned to Europe, and after a brief stay in England rejoined his regiment, by then stationed in Belgium. On 26 July 1917, during fighting at Sanctuary Wood, near Ypres, Freeland went forward alone in order to find a German machine gunner who was inflicting heavy casualties on his men. He was killed instantly and his body was never recovered. Afterwards, his colonel noted that had Freeland returned, he would have received the Military Cross for his courageous action. He is commemorated on the family memorial in Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough.
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