SECOND LIEUTENANT, FREDERICK LEONARD PERRETT, 17TH WELSH FUSILIERS. AN OUTSTANDING WELSH INTERNATIONAL, RUGBY PROP FORWARD, WHO ALSO PLAYED RUGBY LEAGUE FOR HULL FC. FRED WAS BORN IN NEATH, ON THE 9TH MAY 1891. HE LIVED WITH HIS WIFE NORA GLADYS PERRETT, AT 118 ST GEORGES ROAD, HULL, NOT FAR FROM THE RUGBY GROUND. AT THE OUTBREAK OF WAR, HE ENLISTED IN THE WELSH GUARDS AND SERVED IN FRANCE FROM THE THE 19TH FEBRUARY 1916. HE WAS COMMISSIONED AS A SECOND LIEUTENANT AND TRANSFERRED TO THE 17TH ROYAL WELSH FUSILIER’S BATTALION. HE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED AND DIED OF WOUNDS AT THE BOULOGNE HOSPITAL, ON THE 1ST DECEMBER 1918, AGED 27. FRED PERRETT WON FIVE CAPS FOR WALES AND WAS ONE OF 13 WELSH INTERNATIONAL RUGBY PLAYERS WHO DIED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
ANOTHER HULL FC PLAYER, LIEUTENANT, JACK HARRISON, VC, MC, OF THE EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, WAS AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS POSTHUMOUSLY, AT OPPY WOOD, ON THE 3RD MAY 1917. JACK HARRISON WAS HULL FC’S RECORD TRY SCORER, SCORING 52 TRIES IN ONE SEASON, AND 106 TRIES IN 116 MATCHES. HE WAS ALSO A SCHOOL TEACHER AT LIME STREET SCHOOL, ONE OF 23 HULL TEACHERS, KILLED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR. A MEMORIAL TO JACK HARRISON STANDS OUTSIDE THE KCOM STADIUM, IN MEMORY OF HIS LIFE’S ACHIEVEMENTS. HE IS ALSO RECORDED ON THE WAR MEMORILA AT ST MARY’S CHURCH, LOWGATE. HIS VICTORIA CROSS WAS BEQUEATHED TO HULL CITY COUNCIL AND A BRONZE MEMORIAL PLAQUE WITH HIS MEDAL CITATION, HANGS IN THE GUILDHALL TODAY.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER, HULL KINGSTON ROVERS, ALSO SUFFERED CASUALTIES, WITH PHIL THOMAS, KILLED IN ACTION. PHIL THOMAS, WAS A WELSH RUGBY UNION CENTRE, WHO SIGNED FOR ROVERS IN 1908. HE MADE 104 FIRST TEAM APPEARANCES, BETWEEN THE 16TH JANUARY 1909 AND THE 29TH NOVEMBER 1913, SCORING 28 TRIES. ANOTHER ROVERS’ PLAYER, WAS THE COLOURFUL, CHARLIE “SLASHER” BRAIN, CAPTURED AT MONS, ON THE 24TH OCTOBER 1914. HE MANAGED ONE MORE GAME FOR ROVERS AFTER THE WAR. PIERRIE BOLTMAN, A SOUTH AFRICAN FORWARD, MADE 37 FIRST TEAM APPEARANCES FOR ROVERS, BETWEEN THE 30TH NOVEMBER 1911 AND APRIL 1913. HE WAS WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF THE AISNE, IN NOVEMBER 1914. AT A WARTIME CLUB MEETING, ROVERS REPORTED 27 PLAYERS ON ACTIVE SERVICE, BUT THEIR NAMES ARE UNRECORDED TO SEE WHAT BECAME OF THEM.
