News - VC recognised 90 years later (Mexborough/Sheffield)

The name of a Swinton rail worker who was awarded the Victoria Cross after he died in action in the Great War will finally be recognised alongside his fallen comrades on a railway war memorial.

Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson was posthumously awarded the VC for Conspicuous Bravery after he was killed during an attack across the Canal du Nord near Graincourt, France in 1918.

His name is proudly mentioned on the plaque at Mexborough Railway Station, where he worked cleaning locomotives during peacetime.

But Cpl Jackson’s name was not added to the Great Central Railway War Memorial alongside thousands of fallen railway workers , when it was built in Sheffield in 1922.

Sheffield railway historian Ken Grainger, who has researched and documented every name on the Sheffield memorial, is campaigning to remedy the omission.

Ken told the Times: “ When I visited Mexborough Railway Station I had a look at the war memorial plaque and to my surprise I found the name of Thomas Jackson VC. His name is not on the memorial at Sheffield , it is as if he never existed. I thought , of all the people to forget, they left off a VC!”

Ken is the area representative of the Great Central Railway Society and secretary of the War Memorial Committee. The Great Central Railway war memorial was built in 1922 in memory of the 1,304 employees of the Great Central Railway Company who lost their lives in the Great War 1914-1918. The memorial was restored by The Great central Railway Society and unveiled on its former site on the forecourt of the Royal Victoria Holiday Inn, formerly the Sheffield Victoria Station Hotel. The historian has compiled a hardback book with the details of every name on the memorial culled from years of researching libraries and newspapers.

When he discovered Cpl Jackson on the Mexborough memorial he decided to investigate further and add him to the volume.

He said: “Cpl Jackson’s war grave is at Sanders Keep Military Cemetery at Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, France, it was quite easy to trace. Then I searched past issues of the South Yorkshire Times to piece together the details of his life.

“Thomas was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Edwin Jackson of Market Street, Swinton and joined up in September 1916. He was aged 21 when he was killed.

“He joined the first Battalion of the Coldstream Guards and was a big strapping lad and very athletic.

“He died on September 27, 1918. The Guards Division were storming the Canal Du Nord which was part of the Hindenburg Line, a vast system of German defences in north eastern France during World War I. They were being held up by machine gun fire. The company commander Captain Frisby asked for volunteers to take the machine gun nest that was holding them up. Jackson was first to volunteer. He, captain Frisbee and two othes captured two machine guns and took 12 prisoners.

They were able to carry on and Thomas Jackson’s section was attacking a German trench and he shouted: “Come on boys!”

“He jumped into the trench and killed the first two soldiers he met. Then he was shot in the head. Captain Frisby recommended him for the VC.

“If I had not spotted his name on the memorial at Mexborough, I would never have known anything about his bravery. The Sheffield memorial was unveiled on August 9 , 1922 and the Great Central Railway ceased to exist in December of that year - without his name on it. Perhaps they intended for him to have a special memorial, but that is just supposition. If they missed off a VC, who is to say they have not missed others?

“The Imperial War Museum has a copy and the National Railway Museum. The book has taken four years to compile. If a man was killed in action you can find what happened that day, but if a man died of his wounds you don’t know how or when they were inflicted. The last person on the memorial died in 1920”.

Mr Grainger is hoping to have the name added in time for Armistice Day this November.

From: http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/vc_recognised_90_years_later_1_3568181

Book - Sky was no limit for pilot heroes of the Great War (The Air VCs)

IN 1933, a young aviation enthusiast wrote to Sir Albert Ball, father of Nottingham's First World War air ace, querying the 44 kills credited to the dead hero.

Sir Albert, who spent much of his later life preserving the memory of his son's deeds, replied politely, but firmly, to put the challenger in his place.

"Those who knew him (Albert) know that he would take credit for nothing that was not absolutely correct. But for a young man who knows nothing of the Flying Corps and who would only be in short trousers when the war was on, to suggest the RFC would inflate numbers of victories is, in my opinion, beneath contempt.

"Thank you very much for you good wishes, which I very much appreciate."

The letter was sent to G A Brookfield of Virginia Water, an affluent part of Surrey, from Sir Albert's Wollaton Park home.

It is now in the collection of historian and author Peter Cooksley.

It is included in his new book The Air VCs of the First World War which, quite naturally, includes a chapter on Albert Ball.

Officially, according to the London Gazette announcement of his Victoria Cross in 1917, Ball destroyed 43 German planes and one balloon.

But the writer suggests that new research puts the figure at 67 victories, including aircraft forced to land or "seemingly rendered out of control".

Whatever the truth, there is no disputing Ball's place in Cooksley's gallery.

The story of young Albert, a celebrity of the conflict before he was 20, dead before he was 21, is well documented.

He was one of only 19 recipients of the Victoria Cross in the First World War to come from the ranks of the RFC, out of more than 600 awards during the war.

Each one has a fascinating story to tell and Cooksley sets them out in an accessible, measured style.

His collection begins with William Rhodes-Moorhouse who pressed home a single-handed bombing attack at treetop level, flying through a hail of rifle and machine gun fire which riddled his aircraft, and him, with dozens of bullets.

Aged 28, he later died in hospital clutching a photograph of his one-year-old son.

Argyll and Sutherlands Gunnery officer John Liddell was driven by the horrors of trench warfare to swap his uniform for the wings of the RFC.

In August 1915, his two-seater RE5 was attacked behind German lines and raked with machine gun fire.

Liddell's right thigh was torn open, flooding the cockpit with his blood.

Temporarily losing consciousness, the aircraft plunged into a 3,000ft dive.

Somehow he regained his senses and, remarkably, he had the presence of mind to scribble a note to his navigator saying he would try to reach the Allied side rather than ditch and risk instant capture.

The courageous decision saved his comrade but denied Liddell instant medical attention and the terrible injury would eventually cost him his life.

He was 27.

All 19 stories in Peter Cooksley's book are compelling accounts of extraordinary bravery – but the deeds of Australian Frank McNamara are singularly remarkable.

Part of a four-plane attack on a Turkish rail junction in Palestine, he was badly wounded by shrapnel from one of his own bombs.

As he turned for home he spotted fellow pilot David Rutherford on the ground near his downed aircraft... with a platoon of Turkish cavalry charging towards him.

McNamara landed his single-seat plane and Rutherford climbed on to the wing in a bid to escape.

But because of his wound and his comrade's weight, McNamara crashed attempting to take off.

Still the two men refused to give up.

They went back to Rutherford's plane and, while holding off the Turks with their revolvers, managed to get that aircraft started.

Drifting to the edge of consciousness because of the loss of blood, McNamara took the controls, lifted off and managed to nurse the aircraft 70 miles to safety.

McNamara, who would survive the war to become an Air Vice Marshall, became the only Australian airman to win the VC after several officers had recommended him, including Rutherford who wrote... "the risk of Lieut MacNamara being killed or captured was so great that even had he not been wounded he would have been justified in not attempting my rescue – the fact of his already being wounded makes his action one of outstanding gallantry – his determination and resource and utter disregard of danger throughout the operation was worthy of the highest praise".

The Air VCs is published by Sutton, priced £10.99.

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Sky-limit-pilot-heroes-Great-War/story-12928228-detail/story.html