, Royal Naval Labour Corps, late 1st Battalion, Lincoln Regiment

Five: Private W. G. Yeates, Royal Naval Labour Corps, late 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment

Queen's Sudan 1896 (3071. Dr W. Yeates. 1/Lin:R.); 1914-15 Star (SS-16748 Pte. W. G. Yeates, A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (Deal 8515 -S- Pte. W. G. Yeates. R.M.); Khedive's Sudan 1896-1908, 2 clasps, The Atbara, Khartoum (3071 Drumr. W. Yeates. 1st Bn. Lincoln: Regt.), the pin between first and second clasps damaged, edge bruising and contact wear,

Condition nearly very fine 

William George Yeates was born at Charlotte Terrace, Notting Hill on 15 September 1872, the son of William and Charlotte Yeates of 16 Testerton Street, Kensington. Working as a Shoemaker prior to engaging with the Lincolnshire Regiment on 7 April 1892 and being appointed Drummer, Yeates joined the battalion at Malta on 1 February 1895 for a two-year posting with the Garrison, before joining the reinforcements gathering to support Kitchener's Egyptian Army in the Sudan.

Arriving in-theatre on 4 March 1897 Yeates saw service as a Drummer. Present for the major actions at The Atbara and Omdurmann (in which the Lincolnshire Regiment was heavily engaged) he later joined them in Egypt on 8 November 1898. Yeates saw out the rest of his service here, being discharged on 5 April 1904.

Returning to Britain he settled in Hammersmith where he worked as a Labourer - however this was not to be the end of Yeates' service and he was called to the colours again on the outbreak of the Great War. Enlisting with the Army Service Corps he entered the war on 25 September 1915. At some stage he was transferred to the Royal Marine Labour Corps (Deal), likely part of the transfer which occurred from the A.S.C. when the new unit was raised, and set to work at Le Havre. There Yeates' age combined with poor conditions saw him become one of the 95 men of that unit to die of disease. He is buried at the St. Maries Cemetery Extension, Le Havre; sold together with copied service papers, medal rolls and census data as well as a Royal Marine War Graves Roll transcription and Commonwealth War Graves certificate.