Sign up to FREE email alerts from YorkshireLive - ExaminerLive Daily Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

By Andy Lines, in Somme, France.

Hidden deep in caves under the killing fields of the Somme an incredible discovery has been made.

Name after name of the British soldiers who fought – and very likely died – for their country 100 years ago and one of them is from Huddersfield.

The graffiti looks so fresh it could have been written on the cave wall yesterday – and one from E W Taylor, Dalton, Huddersfield, is scrawled there. Does anyone know anything more about E W Taylor and what happened to him?

It is an astonishing piece of World War One history. Among the hundreds of names is that of Sergeant Sam Meekosha from West Yorkshire – one of the bravest Brits to ever serve his country.

The war hero from Bradford was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace.

Then just 22, Meekosha used a simple pencil to write his name eight foot high up on a wall.

For nearly a century no-one had any idea it was there.

But recently the owners of this catacomb complex started to make further investigations.

Within minutes of finding this cave they looked up and uncovered the extraordinary part of history that time had forgotten.

There is no doubt most of the 2,000 brave souls who scrawled their monickers on the walls would have been killed or injured on the frontline of the Somme just a few miles away. It was one of the deadliest battles of the whole war, with one million men killed or wounded. The British and Canadians suffered 57,470 casualties on the first day – July 1, 1916 – alone.

The signatures remain intact because the temperatures in the caves are a constant 10°C.

Gilles Prilaux, an archaeologist with INRAP the French Institute for Archaeological Research, says: “When I shone my torch and looked up and saw the name and then saw the initials VC right next to it I knew we had found something special.

“When we did some research we found out more about Sergeant Meekosha.

“It is incredible to think he was here in these very caves nearly 100 years ago shortly after he actually won his Victoria Cross.

“And it is incredible to think that all these inscriptions have survived so long.

Reach the cave chambers involves a climb 30 metres down a series of steep steps.

Gilles says: “We have already pulled together an extensive list of 1,800 names of soldiers but each day we find more and something new.

“By the end of October we hope to have every single name documented and on a computer database.

“We will have special teams of experts from each different country working on this.”

In the Second World War the Germans held this particular area of the Somme and also discovered the caves.

But in a spirit of respect their soldiers did not deface the British names they found.

Instead they added their own to those of Meekosha and all the other soldiers to leave a poignant memorial of both world wars.

In the London Gazette, on 22 January 1916 Meekosha’s citation read: “Near the Yser Canal, France, 19 November 1915, Corporal Samuel Meekosha, 6th Bn, West Yorkshire Regiment.

“For most conspicuous bravery near Yser. Corporal Samuel Meekosha was with a platoon of about 20 non-commissioned officers and men, who were holding an isolated trench.

“During a very heavy bombardment by the enemy, six of the platoon were killed and seven wounded, while all the remainder were buried.

“When the senior non-commissioned officers had been either killed or wounded, Corporal Meekosha at once took command, sent a runner for assistance, and in spite of no less than ten more big shells falling within twenty yards of him, continued to dig out the wounded and buried men in full view of the enemy and at close range from the German trenches.

“By his promptness and magnificent courage and determination he saved at least four lives.”

Anyone who can provide any more information about E W Taylor should email andrew.hirst@examiner.co.uk or phone 01484 437761.