Ackrills Annual 1915/91

Lt Oscar J Addyman, son of Mrs Addyman, of Starbeck.

Harrogate Herald - 20th January 1915

The following is a list of members of the Harrogate Cricket Club who have joined some branch of His Majesty's Forces, as referred to by Mr Idle at the last meeting of the Yorkshire Cricket Council : 

A A Alderson, R Alderson, G Alderson, Lieutenant H E Appleyard, Lieutenant O J Addyman, A W Adams, H Blackburn, J Butterworth, J Brassington, B E Brown, H Bush, P J Barker, Dr A L Bastable, Captain A B Boyd-Carpenter, O Bastable, C Chippindale, W Crust, D H Drake, G L Dimmock, Lieutenant W H Brennan, A G Fraser, E H Gomersall, T W Green, A Gofton, W F Gibson, S Holmes, J Houfe, Rev D Hoole, S A Harrison, W Langley, Lieutenant W E L Lapham, Major W F Leader, G H Lamb, C A Mantle, Hon. R Captain Moreton, K L Newstead, Lieutenant R G Raworth, H W Rymer, S Royce, T W L Strother, J M Strother, Captain F H Shaw, G B Simpson, Alex Stott, A A Thomson, G E Topham, W Voakes, Hon E Major Wood, Military Police, K Wesley-Smith.

Total of 51, of which 8 are from the 1st XI

Harrogate Herald - 10th February 1915

A wide circle of friends will receive with profound grief and consternation the news that Lieutenant Addyman has been killed in action, just a fortnight before reaching his 24th birthday.

Prepared by Mr F A Stucky, MA, of Leadhall House, Lieutenant Addyman proceede3d to Aldenham School (Herts), where he reached a high position and obtained a place in the School XI. Leaving school in 1908, he read with Mr H J Tyack Bake, MA, for the Army, passing direct into Sandhurst in December, 1909.

It was during this latter period that Lieutenant Addyman became so well-known and so popular in Harrogate. The Harrogate Cricket Club, and the Old Boys' Football Club, and the Yorkshire Ramblers all claimed him as a much valued member. His gigantic stature and powerful frame, reminding those of an older generation of his burley and genial father, himself the victim of a tragic cycling accident, made him a conspicuous figure in any athletic undertaking. Many are the tales told by old friends, such as R F Stobart, F Barstow, and others, of adventures in pot-holes in the Settle district, of climbs in the Lake District, or of camping on Ben Nevis.

Endowed with remarkable good looks, and possessing that gentleness and geniality of disposition, which so often accompany unusual size and physical power, it is not surprising that Lieutenant Addyman was just as popular at a dance or social gathering as on the athletic field.

Having obtained his commission in due course in 1911, Lieutenant Addyman proceeded to India as an officer of the Indian Army. Struck down by Malarial fever, he was invalided home in the spring of 1914, but was sufficiently robust to be able to return to his duties in the early autumn. Hardly, however, had he reached India, when he was recalled for active service in the present war, with the sad result which we now chronicle.

The warmest sympathy will go forth from all to his mother and to his only brother, Mr Eric Addyman, an engineer of much promise connected with the North-Eastern Railway, and like his late brother, an enthusiastic member of the Yorkshire Ramblers.

Cases such as these daily bring home to us the cruel devastations of war. Sometimes one is almost inclined to believe that Fate ordains that those who in character and physique stand out so prominently as to appear invaluable to the community, are the first to be taken from us. Let us hope that the power and common sense of the people of Europe will make impossible in the future such a blot on our civilisation as the present terrible carnage undoubtedly is.

Harrogate Herald - 10th February 1915

W H Breare letter

My desire is to cheer and interest you boys, but I know you are men enough to want to read of the shadows in our existence, as well as the sunshine. I shall not keep anything back that I think you ought, or would like to know. Therefore I tell you that Harrogate has two men at the Front. I have only just heard the sad news. One is Lieutenant Oscar Addyman, son of the late J W Addyman and Mrs St John of White House, Starbeck. He was killed in action. the other is a son of Mr Ransome, who was for so many years coachman to Dr J Gordon Black.

Young Addyman's father and his father before him lived in that big house that stood surrounded by many open acres on the right side of Starbeck village street, going to Knaresborough. The deceased's father was a solicitor, practising in Leeds. He was a tall, well-built, rather light-haired man who had the fluent gift of speech, and was an active politician on the Liberal side. His widow married Mr St John. I cannot tell you anything about Lieutenant Addyman as I never knew him. You see he spent most of his life in Leeds. I believe it is only recently that his mother again resumed residence in Starbeck.

You will remember Ransome's father when I remind you that he wore light-coloured livery and drove a pair of horses in a brougham about Harrogate, and stabled in York Road, next door to the Harrogate Hydro. I am very sorry for the bereaved father, whom I have always respected. He is one of those men you can respect - unfailing in their attention to duty, solid, industrious, and cheerful. You know! The kind that makes us proud of our race, from top to bottom, as they say. Between you and me, when I think of you boys I am surer than ever that the race is most all "top". At any rate, it is not birth, wealth, or position that makes the man. The principal ingredient is the "stuff" you boys are showing.

Claro Times - 13th February 1915

[Very similar to the above - Adds : Son of the late Mr J W Addyman, and Mrs St John, of White House, Starbeck]

SDGW

East Yorkshire Regiment

Lt Oscar James Addyman

Died : 4th February 1915

KIA

CWGC

In Memory of

OSCAR JAMES ADDYMAN

Lieutenant 1st Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment who died on Thursday, 4th February 1915.

Commemorative Information

Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Panel 21 and 31