BORN HULL 1891. SON OF JAMES & MARY ELIZABETH (TASKER)OF THIS ADDRESS AND 9 CAROLINE STREET, HULL. HE ENLISTED IN SEPTEMBER 1914. BEFORE JOINING, HE WORKED AS A LABOURER ON HULL FISH DOCK. HIS FIANCEE ELSIE LIVED SCARBOROUGH (HDM 04/11/1918). HE SERVED AS SERGEANT, 756158, OF THE 251ST ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY. ARRIVED IN FRANCE, ON 20/04/1915. KILLED IN ACTION, ON 27/10/1918, AGED 26. HE WAS AWARDED THE CROIX DE GUERRE (CDG) WITH GOLD STAR (FRANCE) & THE MILITARY MEDAL (MM), “FOR GALLANTRY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY.” HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 6TH NOVEMBER 1918, WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH. * HE LEFT SIBLINGS, FRANCIS, JOHN, HARRY AND MADELINE. HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO HIS MOTHER, MARY.
HIS NAME WAS LISTED ON THE HULL BOYS CLUB MEMORIAL, ROPER STREET. HE IS BURIED AT FOREST COMMUNAL CEMETERY. HIS GRAVE INSCRIPTION, READS, “IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY”
The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award was established on 25th March 1916, with retrospective application to 1914, and was awarded to other ranks for “acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire”. The award was discontinued in 1993 when it was replaced by the Military Cross, which was extended to all ranks, while other Commonwealth nations instituted their own award systems in the post war period.
The Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (English: War Cross) is a French military decoration, the first version of the Croix de guerre. It was created on 02/04/1915, to recognize French and allied soldiers who were cited for valorous service during World War I, similar to the British mentioned in dispatches, but with multiple degrees equivalent to other nations’ decorations for courage.
