Hi.

A possible non-comm. I understand the YMCA was one of the recognised civilian organisations subject to commemoration under certain circumstances. I couldn't find a CWGC entry for this man.

The Times, Saturday, Dec 21, 1918
Y.M.C.A. WORKER'S DEATH
"H.B.D." writes:-
The reality of the sacrifices made by the civilian
workers of the Y.M.C.A. at the front has again been
illustrated by the death of Mr. JOHN HAYHURST, of
Blackburn, who died, at the age of 50, on Decem-
ber 11, at an officers' hospital in London, after six
weeks of exceptional suffering, the result of severe
wounds from a shell-burst during the recent British
advance.
Mr. Hayhurst joined up for foreign service with the
Y.M.C.A. in 1916, and his keen and cheery personality
had endeared him to all who were associated with
him, and especially to "the boys," to whose comfort
he had devoted himself, in all the trying circum-
stances of life in the trenches, with unfailing energy
and affection. In October the "hut" of which he
was the leader was moved to a front-line position, in
order that it might be more immediately in touch
with the advancing troops. This change of position
was carried out under the fire of the retreating
enemy; and Mr. Hayhurst at once volunteered for
the work. While he was in charge of the stores the
lorry transport with which he was going forward was
shattered by shell-fire. The driver and another com-
rade were instantly killed, and Mr. Hayhurst was
dangerously wounded. For some weeks his recovery
seemed assured; but septic conditions set in, and
amputation became necessary. His death will be
deeply mourned by his many friends in Lancashire
and elsewhere.

regards,

Martin

YMCA men have to have died overseas between 04.11.14 and 11.11.18 to qualify.

However, suffering wounds overseas during that period and dying of them in the UK by 31.08.21 will count. Could you send me a scan of The Times article and IFCP will get the death certificate. If this bears out the story, he will go forward.

Here's his MIC

Martin

Chris Harley has supplied The Time scan and thanks to Carmania.

I'll now track down his DC.

Ok, great. Thanks all.

I have started searching for his grave

I received Hayhurst's death ecrtificate today and it confirms the details.

Cause of death

(1) Severe GSW both legs & right forearm. Fracture of Rt tibia into knee joint (1 month 20 days)
(2) General toxaemia received in action in France

IFCP has put the case forward with Martin as the 'finder'. I do not know how long this one will take as no YMCA case has come up for a long time.

Chris is on the case looking for the grave.

Thanks for that, Terry. May be my first! I did find Dvr Stephen Galloway ALLAN, struck by lightning, but he may still be in the works. I browse The Times quite a bit, so if I see something that catches my eye in passing, it's worth a few seconds to check the CWGC site.

I'm glad this man fell into one of the recognised civilian categories, as he sounds deserving of commemoration. That brief obit in The Times was probably submitted by a friend or colleague but his wounds certainly attest to his being in the thick of the action.

Thanks.

I'm curious, Chris. What's your modus operandi? Do you come up with a shortlist of cemeteries and start with those? Here you don't have much to go on - an officers' hospital in London. Does it often get down to literally visiting cemeteries and doing some foot slogging to find these graves?

Well done.

Martin

Martin

in the main I use the place of death & where the casualty comes from - then its guess work

Chris

Liar it's NOT just guess work! It's a fine skill Chris - and you have it!

His grave has been found - buried in grave 1594 section C of the Non-Conformist division of Blackburn Cemetery

My apologies for intruding, but a trawl using Geoff's Search Engine produces 39 Names, which may be of interest at this time of year.

001 ADAMS JAM - - 19/08/1918 YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
002 ALDRIDGE JG ATTD SOUTH AFRICAN BDE 08/10/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
003 ALLAN HG - JANVAL HUT, DIEPPE 07/04/1915 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
004 BACON JL - - 01/12/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
005 BASS JW - ATTD SECOND ARMY HQ 05/02/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
006 BOWICK CG - - 03/05/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
007 CHAMBERS O - - 15/11/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
008 CLARK THL - - 09/09/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
009 CUTHBERT WB - - 18/06/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
010 DAVIES EH ATTD 18/03/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
011 FIDLER BH - - 27/06/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
012 GORDON JD - - 30/08/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
013 GREEN AJ - - 08/08/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
014 GREEN F AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE ATTD 3RD INFANTRY BDE 27/10/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
015 GUTHRIE C - - 17/07/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
016 HOWARD WL - - 12/05/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
017 INNESS G - - 14/03/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
018 JOLLIFFE CB - - 24/04/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
019 MACKENZIE M ST OMER 07/11/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
020 MCARTHUR MM - - 13/02/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
021 MCLEOD WA - - 18/11/1916 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
022 PEARTON E - - 13/03/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
023 PICKFORD EA MEMBER OF LENA ASHWELL'S CONCERT PARTY 07/02/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
024 POOLE JW - - 23/10/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
025 POOLE SP - - 14/02/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
026 POOLE EM - LE TREPORT 31/10/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
027 POPE RC - - 15/02/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
028 ROBINSON J - - 20/06/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
029 ROWAN WS ATTD 4TH DIV AREA 14/01/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
030 ROWE EF - - 28/10/1916 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
031 SANT WW - STAFF 20/06/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
032 SHUBROOK MA - - 31/12/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
033 SPINKS WH - - 29/05/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
034 STEVENSON BG - - 30/05/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
035 TAYLOR FV MEMBER OF LENA ASHWELL'S CONCERT PARTY 07/02/1919 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
036 WILCOX A - - 18/08/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
037 WILKIE NA - - 03/12/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
038 WILSON WA - - 20/03/1918 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N
039 WITHERS C - - 25/08/1917 YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC’N

Hope above is of interest.

Well done, Chris!