5th November - 11th November 1918

11th November – At 05.10 hours, in a railway carriage outside the French town of Compiégne, German delegates signed the armistice. Under its terms Germany would evacuate immediately from Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Alsace-Lorraine. The German army would surrender 5,000 heavy guns and artillery pieces, 25,000 machine-guns, 3,000 trench mortars and 1,700 aeroplanes. Allied troops would occupy all of Western Germany up to the west bank of the Rhine, and would additionally hold three major bridgeheads over the Rhine at Mainz, Coblenz and Cologne. The Allies would be given 5,000 German railway engines and 150,000 railway wagons, as well as 5,000 lorries, to be delivered “within 36 days”. All of Germany’s submarines, and much of her navy was also to be surrendered.

The news of the signing of the armistice was immediately telephoned and telegraphed to all the Allied commanders –

“Hostilities will cease on the entire front November 11th at 11.00am French time”

Throughout the morning of the 11th November, fighting continued. The headquarters of the American First and Second armies received the news of the armistice at 6.30 in the morning – the commanders ordered the fighting to go on until 11.00. A British brigade was ordered to seize a bridge over the river Dendre in France to prevent the retreating Germans destroying it – the orders came through at 9.30, to be completed before 11.00. The final British soldier to be killed in action was Private George Ellison, from Leeds. He had enlisted in 1914 and was killed at 9.30 on the 11th November. He is buried in the cemetery at St Symphorien – where, just feet away but by complete coincidence, Private John Parr, the first British casualty of the war, was buried. They lie close together because the area around Mons was the scene of the first and last actions of the war. At the village of Ville-sur-Haine, just east of Mons, a Canadian soldier, Private George Price, waiting in the trenches with his platoon for the ending of the war, was hit and killed by a German sniper. He died at 2 minutes to 11.00, the last of over 10,000 soldiers of all nationalities killed or wounded after the armistice had been signed, and the last man of the war to die in action.

At eleven o’clock “There came a second of expectant silence, and then a curious rippling sound, which observers far behind the front likened to the noise of a light wind. It was the sound of men cheering”

Crowds that in London, Berlin, Vienna and Paris had cheered the announcement of war in 1914, now celebrated peace. The war was over. It had lasted four years, three months, and one week. Total casualties caused directly by the war are estimated at 37.5 million. Over 7 million combatants had been maimed for life. The celebrations and jubilation faded quickly. As Winston Churchill later recalled–

“Too much blood had been spilt. Too much life-essence had been consumed. The gaps in every home were too wide and empty. The shock of an awakening and the sense of disillusion followed swiftly on the poor rejoicing with which hundreds of millions celebrated the achievement of their heart’s desire. There still remained the satisfactions of safety assured, of peace restored, of honour preserved, of the comforts of fruitful industry, of the homecoming of the soldiers; but these were in the background; and with them was mingled the ache for those who would never come home”





Harrison Singleton

Pte. Singleton, James Harrison 63086 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers

Harrison was born at the beginning of 1897, at Daisy Hill in Allerton. He was the younger son of Clara and Benjamin Singleton, a stonemason, having an older brother William and two younger sisters, Miriam and Annie. By 1911 the family had moved to 32, Main Street, Wilsden. Benjamin had become a comber in a worsted spinning mill and Harrison had joined him as a spinner. By the time he enlisted into the Northumberland Fusiliers in Keighley in December 1916, he was working in the combing department of Holden’s in Bradford.

Initially Harrison’s battalion was sent to India, but in 1918, it was posted to Mesopotamia (we now call it Iraq). There were no roads, transport was by boats along the rivers.

“Now virtually forgotten, the British Army also fought in Mesopotamia against the Turks, originally with the intention of defending British oil interests. Another disease-ridden campaign, the Turks finally capitulated. Extremes of temperature (120o F was common); arid desert and regular flooding, flies, mosquitoes and vermin all led to appalling levels of sickness and death through disease. Medical arrangements were quite shocking with wounded men spending up to two weeks on boats before reaching any kind of hospital.”

‘The Long, Long Trail’ website

The Turks signed the armistice on 1 November 1918.

Harrison died of broncho-pneumonia just four days later on 5 November 1918, aged 21, and is buried in Basra War Cemetery, Mesopotamia (now Iraq) Grave No. I. S. 12

Harrison’s parents were by now living at 16 Chapel Row. His elder brother William also lived at Chapel Row, with wife Annie. They called their son William Harrison Singleton and he was born in July 1917 whilst Harrison was on active service. He grew up in the village, and like his uncle, he too was known by his middle name - Harrison Singleton.