KEIGHLEY man Ronald Vane Gee joined the Army in about 1905.
As a member of the Kingsway Volunteers he was a drummer in the band while continuing to work in a factory at home.
He took part in the recruiting campaign when the second 6th West Riding Regiment was formed.
And even after the First World War broke out Sergeant Gee remained in the safety of Bedford as an instructor of musketry.
It was not until three years into the war that Ronald was sent out to fight in France. He was dead three months later.
Ronald was one of the 243 men killed or posted missing during an attack on German lines as part of the bloody Arras offensive, and his body was never found.
Ronald had been born in Dewsbury in 1887, moving to Keighley by the age of three and becoming a wool doffing overlooker just 10 years later.
At 21, already in the Territorial Army, he married Lilian Bradley and within two years their children Ronald and Nellie had been born.
Well known in Keighley as a football referee and a billiard player, Ronald was one of five brothers who served in the 6th West Riding Regiment.
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