Lindsay was born in Eccles, Lancashire, one of the six children of Arthur (a stockbroker’s clerk) and Rebecca Earl of 7 Station Road, Swinton, Lancashire.
He was educated at Clarendon Road, Council School, Eccles, and after the family had moved to Swinton he attended St. Peter’s Day School there.
Connected with the Swinton Wesleyan Church and Sunday school, he was also a member of the school harriers and the tennis club. He was well-known among the local scouts as an old patrol leader of the 1st Swinton Troop.
He was employed as a clerk at Messrs. Robert Scott and Co., shippers of Manchester when he enlisted in the city on 20th January 1915. He served in Egypt from 15th September and arrived in France, via Cyprus, on 16th May 1916.
He was wounded in the foot on 10th November and treated in Boulogne Hospital, he was able to re-join his battalion in the field on 19th February 1917.
Private Lindsay Earl, 275583 (2519), 6th Battalion, attached to 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Scots died on 17th April 1917, aged 19, killed by shelling while in the Bois de Roses, Savy Wood.
The battalion war diary for 17th April records,
'…hostile artillery shelled the ‘Bois de Roses’ between 3pm and 5pm with 77mm, 10cm and 15cm shells which completely blotted out our trenches in the wood and caused us 26 casualties of which 9 were killed…'
One of the other casualties was Private David Duncan who is also commemorated on Pier & Face 7D.
Support Our Charitable Foundation
Your donation helps us deliver projects like For Evermore, which educate and inspire future generations to remember those who gave their lives in the two World Wars. With your support, we can keep their stories alive and ensure they are never forgotten.
As well as making a donation today, you might also consider leaving a gift in your will to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation. Legacy gifts, large or small, help us preserve this vital heritage for generations to come.
Thank you for helping us honour their memory so we can tell Every Story. For evermore.
