Potential new lead to trace living relatives of fallen Rochdale soldier

Chairman of the Lancashire Veterans Association, Harry Mills, believes he may have uncovered some new information to help a Belgian man who is searching for the living relatives of a Rochdale soldier killed during World War Two.

Christopher Sims is hoping to make contact with any living relatives of Harold and Ellen Hoyle, of Rochdale, whose son, also called Harold, was killed in action 75 years ago.

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Now Mr Mills, who is assisting Mr Sims with his enquiries, believes he may have found a new link to living family members.

He said: “I have made a search of local records but unfortunately been unable to find any other information apart from a brief entry in the Rochdale Observer dated 30 September 1944, which reads as follows:

'...Mrs Mary Halstead, of 20A Procker Street, Rochdale, has been informed that her brother, Trooper Harold Hoyle, of the RAC, (previously reported as missing in action) was killed in action earlier this month. Twenty-year-old Trooper Hoyle had been in the Forces for nearly two years and arrived in France on D-Day. In civilian life he worked at Dale Mill...'

“I think that Harold and Mary were two of the four children born to a marriage between a Hoyle and a Sherwin.  According to the website Free BMD, the children were Pollie (1915), Joshua (1918), Angela (1922) and Harold (1924). It is possible that Joshua died in infancy but there is an Angela who married Gerald T F Fogwill in Rochdale in 1956.

“I cannot find any trace of Procker Street but there is a Proctor Street in Bury and a Packer Street in Rochdale. I think that the sister Mary is the one who married Herbert Halstead in Rochdale in 1941 and, if so, she was better known as 'Pollie' and died in 1953 aged just 38.

“It is possible that the couple had a son, Ian W Halstead, in 1949 and, if so, he married either Jacqueline Fenton in 1970 or Elaine Warner in 1979. If I am correct, then Ian might still be in the area although the only one traced in directory enquiries was living in Warrington in 2002.”

Trooper Harold Hoyle, 15th (Scottish) Regiment, Reconnaissance Corps, R.A.C., died aged 20 on 6 September 1944 in Belgium. He was killed on the outskirts of the town of Waregem with another British soldier (Leonard Williams, Royal Tank Corps). Close to this spot, four Belgian resistance members and a U.S. airman aiding their operations were executed by the Germans.

Their remains were interred in the Waregem Communal Cemetery and later exhumed and concentrated in the Cement House Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in 1968.

This year a special ceremony will be held in Waregam on Sunday 8 September, and an exhibition organised for the 75th anniversary in memory of these victims and other local resistant members who were killed during the liberation (4-7 September 1944).

Speaking to Rochdale Online earlier this year, Mr Sims, a local historical group volunteer helping to prepare the exhibition, said: “Waregem, in connection with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the town, will be organizing a special ceremony and exhibition in memory of these victims. As such, any information on Harold Hoyle as to possible living descendants and photographs would be greatly appreciated.”

If you have any information that can help Mr Sims, please contact the Newsdesk and we will pass your details on: news@rochdaleonline.co.uk