Great War Western Front Final Advance in Picardy Bois de la Have October to November 1918 Leeds Rifles Military Medal group awarded to Sergeant H.H. Threadgould, 8th (Leeds Rifle) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, Territorial Force. Threadgould came from Leeds, and joined the Territorial Force in November 1914, being then present with the 1st/8th Battalion out at the front from April 1915. He was promoted to Sergeant during the Battle of the Somme, and was then wounded by gas during the Third Battle of Ypres on 22nd July 1917, and evacuated home. Having returned to the front in September 1918, he rejoined his battalion, and then fought during the final advance in Picardy, being awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field during October to November 1918, this apparently for actions at Bois de la Have, his award being gazetted on 23rd July 1919.
Group of 4: Military Medal, GVR bust; (305814 SJT. H.H. THREADGOULD. 8/W. YORK: R.); 1914-1915 Star; (2926 PTE. H.H. THREADGOULD. W. YORK: R.); British War Medal and Victory Medal; (2926 SJT. H.H. THREADGOULD. W. YORK. R.)
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Henry Haigh Threadgould was born on 22nd October 1886 in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of Edgar John Threadgould and Sarah Hannah Wood, and worked as a joiner, but with the Great War he then enlisted into the British Army Territorial Force at Leeds on 16th November 1914, joining as a Private (No.2926 later No.305814) the West Yorkshire Regiment. Posted to the 2nd/8th Leeds Rifle Battalion on joining, he then transferred to the 1st/8th (Leeds Rifle) Battalion on 24th March 1915, and then saw service out on the Western Front from 16th April 1915, where his battalion formed part of the 146th Brigade in the 49th (West Riding) Division. As such he saw service during the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9th May, and during the defence against the first Phosgene attack on 19th December 1915.
Having been appointed to unpaid Lance Corporal on 22nd November 1915, and to paid Lance Corporal on 1st February 1916, he then fought in the Battle of the Somme, specifically at Albert, Bazentin Ridge, Pozieres Ridge, and Flers-Courcelette. During the Battle of the Somme he was promoted substantive Corporal on 18th July 1916 and owing to the Sergeant above him having been wounded, namely Sergeant (No.2154) Spender, was then in turn appointed appointed in his place to Acting Sergeant on 4th September 1916, before being promoted to Sergeant on 15th September 1916.
Threadgould was involved in the Third Battle of Ypres when he was wounded in action owing to gas poisoning from the bursting of a gas shell on 22nd July 1917, and having been sent for treatment with the 55th General Hospital at Boulogne from 25th July, he was evacuated home on 5th August 1917 aboard the Hospital Ship Doris. Threadgould recovered enough to be sent back out to rejoin his battalion on the Western Front from 14th September 1918, being thrown into the Battle of the Canal du Nord, a part of the wider battles for the Hindenburg Line. His battalion was by then known solely as the 8th Battalion, having absorbed the 2nd/8th Battalion, and it was by then serving as part of the 185th Brigade in the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division.
During October and into November 1918, it fought in the Battle of the Selle, and participated in the capture of Salesmen, and the Battle of the Sambre, all a part of final advance in Picardy.
On 9th November the 62nd Division entered the southern outskirts of Maubeuge, crossed the Sambre and reached the Maubeuge-Avesnes road. The Division was selected to form part of the army which would advance across Belgium and occupy the Rhine bridgeheads, the only Territorial formation to receive this honour. The move began on 18th November, although the Division halted 1st to 9th December between Ciney and Rochefort. The German border was crossed on 15th December and the last units reached the allotted area around Schleiden on Christmas Day.
In February 1919, Scots battalions began to arrive and the Division was renamed as the Highland Division on 15th March 1919. Threadgould remained on service out in Germany until posted home on 9th April 1919, being discharged on 7th May 1919.
Threadgould was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field in the London Gazette for 23rd July 1919, which indicates an award won during the final advance in October to November 1918. This was apparently awarded for his actions at the Bois de la Have. Threadgould died in Leeds in 1955.