FRANCIS JOHN FEASEY 13/1129, 13th Battalion, York & Lancaster

Frank Feasey back left, with his siblings
Photograph with hanks to Michael Riley

Service Details 
Francis John Feasey 13/1129, 13th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment. Killed in action 1st July 1916, aged 20

Biography
Written by 
Yvonne Joan Viva Riley Niece of Francis John Feasey and Michael John Riley JP Great-nephew of Francis John Feasey.

Francis John Feasey was born in 1896, in the village Brackley, near Buckinghamshire. In the late 1500s Buckinghamshire had received an influx of Huguenot refugees from France, and
the stories passed down inside the family are that he was descended from some of them (the relevance of this will be seen later). Frank’s was a farming family, grounded in a Christian Faith that was the focal point for life in the villages around Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. Had Frank lived, he would surely have passed on to his children a religious tradition based on the farming principles of being ‘a good shepherd’; a ‘pastoral Christianity’ based on serving others, while wary of spiritual leaders whose congregations are founded on the prospects of greater rewards on earth. Certainly, this was the Faith of his siblings who survived to adulthood.

Frank's parent Aubrey And Louisa Feasey
Photo with Thanks to Micheal Riley.

About 1906, the two parents, three boys and three girls were encouraged to move north, to join another branch of the Feasey family. At the time, agriculture as a British industry was
beginning to decline, and it was felt that there would be more opportunities for the children in an industrial area. Once in Yorkshire, living at 22 Jardine St, Wombwell, the family was
blessed with the addition of two more boys. Frank had always been big for his age, and tended to mix with boys who were older than himself. When war came he begged his mother to let him join them in volunteering for service.His friends would have many adventures, he said. They would see the world and, when they returned, their life experience would be so much greater than his. He desperately wanted to share in the soldier’s life that was so heavily promoted to those who would volunteer. After much discussion, and against their own intuition, Frank’s parents reluctantly allowed him to register, despite his relative youth. History books now tell more than our family knew of Frank’s life in the army. We knew that he trained in England, then traveled to Egypt. By his own account, this period of his life seemed to be all that he had imagined the life of a soldier to be. Frank’s military records show him as always a Private. Our family did hear of his recommendation for promotion to Corporal. Unfortunately, on the day of his recommendation and in the ensuing revelry, a wooden bench seat went through a window, and the promotion was withdrawn before it could be confirmed. So his family was told. In March 1916, the 1st Barnsley Pals relocated to France, to defend the front line of the Somme. We know little of his activities between March and June, but we believe this to have been a period of greater hardship, compared to his time in Egypt. On July 1, the 1st Barnsley Pals were ordered to rise out of the trenches and march toward the German lines, which were thought to have been decimated by earlier shelling. Instead, they met with fierce resistance, and Frank was one of many soldiers recorded as ‘missing’ on that day. Ironically, Frank died not more than 50 kilometres from the area where his Huguenot ancestors are reputed to have lived, 350 years before.

Frank's Camp Bible

More than his own heart was stilled at that time. On the 20th of July the family received notice that he was missing. His mother’s heart was broken by the loss of her eldest son and she was forever wistful, even at the best of times. Frank’s father bore the loss silently, but with equal grief. Right into her old age my grandmother, Elsie, born just a couple of years earlier than Frank, often spoke about the loss of the boy who, despite his youth, had behaved as a big brother to her. Elsie kept a letter her brother had sent from The Front. Our family still has the letter, and it is clearly tinged with anxiety and a little homesickness. The letter expresses Frank’s interest in Elsie’s friend, Mildred, and in his fellow-soldier’s (Frank Inskipp) interest in corresponding with Elsie. Sadly, both Frank Feasey and Frank Inskipp were

Inside the front of Frank's camp bible.

killed together on July 1st, 1916. After his mother died, Frank’s soldier’s paybook and tunic buttons were buried with her. When Elsie died, we placed Frank’s photograph beside her. Truly, from the time he was declared missing, Frank was constantly missed. Frank’s two brothers who also served in World War One returned to live out their lives in Yorkshire. Some of Frank’s friends also returned, but were wounded (either physically or psychologically) and were considered to be unreliable witnesses when they told Frank’s mother that they had seen him being marched away as a prisoner of the Germans. Nevertheless, the prospect that Frank had somehow survived, but with total loss of memory, was too tantalizing to ever give up completely, and it haunted the family for years. The official version of what happened to Frank is that he was killed at some time during the morning of July 1sy His name appears on the Thiepval Memorial as having died with no known resting place.

A transcript of Francis John Feasey's letter from the Front can be read here.

Grave:
No known grave.

Memorials:
Lundhill Sunday school memorial, now inside St. Mary's Church, Wombwell
Thiepval memorial, pier and face 14 A and 14 B, France
Wombwell War Memorial, Park Street, South Yorkshire.