valiant
A Fixture
Hi guys,
With the anniversary of the Great War almost upon us, I thought Id share the story of my great uncle Albert, which I tell the kids at school on Remembrance Day.
Albert was my grandfathers half brother who worked for LMS at Stoke station. At the outbreak of the war, he and some of his workmates decided to go down to the Kings Hall in Stoke to enlist, as did many others. Albert was enlisted into the Royal Horse Artillery as a farrier and was present during the battle and subsequent retreat for Mons. Whilst regrouping and re equiping in N France, he was kicked in the head by a pack mule and had his skull fractured. He was sent home to the UK to convalesce and after his recovery he was enlisted into the North Staffs Rgt who were embarking for Mesopotamia.
After tropical training in Egypt, many of the units were diverted to Gallipoli, but the 7th Batt N Staffs (I think) were sent on to Mesopotamia (Iraq). Albert fought in many actions and was amongst the British forces surrounded by the Ottoman army at Kut. At the end of the war, Albert was posted to India, where he served for 6 mths on the NW Frontier.
After finally returning home, he resumed work at Stoke station until he retired in the mid 196os. I often visited him with my father when I was quite young but was completely unaware of his military service until a few years ago, until my dad told me all about him when we were researching the family history.
Thanks for looking in,
Steve
With the anniversary of the Great War almost upon us, I thought Id share the story of my great uncle Albert, which I tell the kids at school on Remembrance Day.
Albert was my grandfathers half brother who worked for LMS at Stoke station. At the outbreak of the war, he and some of his workmates decided to go down to the Kings Hall in Stoke to enlist, as did many others. Albert was enlisted into the Royal Horse Artillery as a farrier and was present during the battle and subsequent retreat for Mons. Whilst regrouping and re equiping in N France, he was kicked in the head by a pack mule and had his skull fractured. He was sent home to the UK to convalesce and after his recovery he was enlisted into the North Staffs Rgt who were embarking for Mesopotamia.
After tropical training in Egypt, many of the units were diverted to Gallipoli, but the 7th Batt N Staffs (I think) were sent on to Mesopotamia (Iraq). Albert fought in many actions and was amongst the British forces surrounded by the Ottoman army at Kut. At the end of the war, Albert was posted to India, where he served for 6 mths on the NW Frontier.
After finally returning home, he resumed work at Stoke station until he retired in the mid 196os. I often visited him with my father when I was quite young but was completely unaware of his military service until a few years ago, until my dad told me all about him when we were researching the family history.
Thanks for looking in,
Steve
