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RECOMMENDED FOR THE VC
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Gunner Darbyshire (on
reader's left) and Driver Osborne, both of L
Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, being cheered by
their comrades at Woolwich yesterday. When their
battery was surprised by a strong German force,
these two men and a sergeant-major, after all the
other members of the battery had been killed or
seriously wounded, continued to fire the one
remaining gun until relieved, although they
themselves were seriously wounded. They have been
recommended for the Victoria Cross. |
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Liverpool Courier |
23rd October 1914 |
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SAVED BY PRAYER BOOK
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| Bullet Penetrates 137
Pages |
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Private Edward
Hamill, of the 1st Scots Guards, writing
to his mother at 17, Rose Hill relates how a prayer
book saved his life. He says:-
“I am sending
you my prayer book. You will see, mother, how it
saved my life. It went through my coat sleeve and
through my pocket, and stopped in my prayer book,
and the words which caught my eyes first were, “God
grant me grace to remember my death” “I hope you
will do me a favour and show it to Father Stephen,
and send me out another as soon as you have the
chance and a few “fags” I suppose you have read of
the big battle that is now raging. We are getting
some of our own back, and they want it badly.
“The weather
here is fine, and I don’t think that this will last
much longer – at least I hope not. Once we get them
on the go there will be no holding us back” |
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Evening Express |
17th
May 1915 |
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LIVERPOOL SOLDIER DROWNED
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PRAYER-BOOK PREVIOUSLY SAVED HIM FROM BEING SHOT |
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In the “Express” of May 17th
there appeared a paragraph in which a Liverpool
soldier, Private Hamill, of the 1st
Scot’s Guards related how a shrapnel bullet
penetrated 137 pages of his prayer book, after
piercing his sleeve and coat pocket, the book thus
saving his life. News has now been received that
Private Hamill, who resided at 17, Rose Hill was
recently drowned while bathing.
Private Hamill belonged to B Company of the Scot’s
Guards who are at present in France, and was 20
years of age. Some days ago his Company were bathing
when Hamill was seized with cramp and sank in view
of his comrades. Many of the men dived in order to
save him, but only succeeded in recovering his dead
body ten minutes afterwards. Sergeant F Hinton who
belongs to St Helens in writing to announce the sad
event, stated that 350 men of the Company attended
the funeral, which was of a military character, and
several wreaths, subscribed for by the deceased’s
comrades, were placed on the grave. Lieut D Kinlay
wrote a sympathetic letter, in which he mentioned
that Private Hamill had served in the transport
section with him, and was a good man and a soldier.
He was well known in Liverpool and very much
respected. |
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Evening Express |
17th June 1915 |
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A NEW YEAR'S
YAWN |
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LIVERPOOL SOLDIER'S
SPEECH RESTORED |
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WEDDING DANCE AND ITS SEQUEL |
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("Express"
Special) |
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There have been several cases
reported of soldiers having their powers of speech
restored to them under peculiar circumstances, but
the most remarkable of all is the case of Corporal
Joseph Freckelton, of the 7th King's (Liverpool
Regiment). Freckelton, who
is 24 years of age, and the son of John Freckelton,
of 2 St George's-hill, Everton, was placed hors de
combat during the battle of Festubert. A Jack
Johnson burst just near him, completely burying him,
and when he was extricated it was found that the
explosion had rendered him deaf, dumb, and blind.
For a few weeks he remained in this awful condition,
when gradually his sight and hearing were restored
to him. But his voice was gone. He could not even
whistle.
He was, of course, invalided home,
and for sixteen weeks was in a military hospital at
Newcastle. Then he was transferred to Manchester,
and for the festive season he was given leave and
returned to Liverpool on a visit to relatives and
friends. His affliction evoked much sympathy. On the
last day of the year he attended two weddings, and
at one of them he officiated as the best man.
Although unable to speak, he discharged his duties
efficiently, and entered with gusto into the
merry-makings which followed. There were songs and
dancing, and although he could not join in the
choruses he made up for it by the zest with which he
whirled his lady partners around the room in the
dances.
It was close upon midnight when
the dramatic incident occurred. Compleatly exhausted
by the dancing and the other excitements of the
occasion, he flung himself on to a sofa and lay down
for a few moments' rest. Suddenly he felt a desire
to yawn, and giving the inclination full rein, he
threw up his arms, his body quivered, and as he
yawned he |
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Ejaculated a Loud "Oh!" |
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It was the first sound which had
passed his lips since that awful day at Festubert
last May. Was he dreaming? He sat up and rubbed his
eyes, and then called out to a friend. Leaping to
his feet in a delirium of joy he embraced his
friends in a medley of laughter and fears, for one's
voice is a welcome stranger after so many months of
silence. Then his first
thought was of home. Thither he went with all speed,
and as he stood on the threshold the syrens on the
river were proclaiming the dawn of the new year.
"Happy new year, mother! Happy new
year, father!" Those were the words that smote the
ears of the parents as they saw what they thought
was an apparition of their son entering the kitchen.
It was a happy new year in very truth, for it had
brought with it the voice that had been given up as
lost.
The corporal then returned to the
party. "I am going to sing for then now."
"And he has been singing almost
ever since," said his mother to an "Express"
representative to-day. "He says he must keep on
singing until he's certain that his voice has really
come back to stay." |
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Evening Express |
3rd January 1916 |
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PAGE FROM A
PRESCOT PAL'S SKETCH BOOK |
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A private belonging to 3rd Company
17th Service Battalion (Pals), Prescot, sends us the
above "glimpses of life" at Prescot, which will
doubtless interest and amuse the men in barracks as
well as their folks at home. |
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Liverpool Weekly
Post |
16th January 1915 |
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ONLY WOODEN
LEG IN THE ARMY |
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ENLISTED IN LIVERPOOL |
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OFF TO EGYPT |
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Private J L Jones, of the Army Ordnance
Corps, who is shortly proceeding to Egypt on military duty
is the only man in the British Army with a wooden leg. He
belongs to Liverpool, and so impressed were the medical men
with his agility, despite his artificial limb, that they
passed him as a recruit. He is a strapping, muscular fellow
of twenty-three over six feet high, and is proud of being
able to call himself "a Liverpool lad." He has an
interesting history, which he narrated to a "Weekly Post"
representative this week. His brother is manager of the Bee
Hive Hotel, Mount Pleasant. Another brother, Alfred Jones,
now corporal in the Military Police at Blackpool, is a
member of the Liverpool Scottish, and was in the famous
charge at Hooge on the 16th June of last year, being wounded
in the head by shrapnel, and invalided home. He was
mentioned in Sir John French's despatches, and recommended
for the DCM. |
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PRIVATE J L JONES |
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From the photograph nobody would
notice that the right leg is artificial, yet
such is the case. |
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Private Jones has a great tale to tell before
he goes to take up active duty with rifle, forty rounds of
ammunition, and full soldier's kit. |
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HOW HE PASSED THE DOCTOR |
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The principal fascination about him at the
moment is his wooden leg, and that notwithstanding this
drawback he presented himself on the 2nd March last at the
Technical Schools, Byrom-street, in this city. Lieutenant
Dean was one of the recruiting officers present, and he knew
beforehand that J L Jones was minus the right foot and part
of the right hip. Jones himself made no concealment, and was
marched before the military medico, where his wooden leg was
fully displayed. Jones gave such proof of his physical
stamina, marching power, and so on that he was at once
accepted, wooden leg notwithstanding, becoming a unit of the
British Army. |
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Private Jones saw several of his own friends
in Liverpool yesterday, and they marvelled and rejoiced at
his appearance. |
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Among the friends he enumerated are Mr Walter
Peel, registrar of the Court of Passage, who is now in
charge of the Prince of Wales Relief Fund, and Mr Thomas,
head clerk of the Court of Passage. |
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Private Jones's association with these
officials arose in this way. Mr Peel became the guardian of
Private Jones in 1906, after he had met with an accident,
until Jones reached the age of twenty-one. |
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By this hangs a tale. |
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THE ACCIDENT |
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Private Jones as a boy was engaged at
Milner's Safe works in Smithdown-lane. While pushing a safe
into a lift - he was a boy of fourteen - his right foot got
caught between the lift and the wire-netting, and his limb
was cut completely off as if by a knife. He was taken to the
Royal Infirmary, where he made a marvellous recovery after
three weeks. He then used a couple of crutches to move along
with, and was dependent upon them for about six months. |
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He was
recommended by Mr Peel to go to a firm of artificial limb
makers, where he was fitted with an artificial limb. |
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He walked out of
the shop with this new "armature" leaving his crutches
behind. He gained such expertise in his movements that he
quickly grew to be a marvel to the medical profession and
all his friends, moving about with grace and ease, and
taking every bend and turn of the road with the alacrity of
a man who had lacked for nothing in his organisation. |
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He was been
heartily congratulated on joining the Army. |
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| Liverpool Weekly
Post |
22nd April 1916 |
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