Event - Twinning visit between towns linked by VC hero to mark Diamond Jubilee (Hatfield)

HISTORICAL ties between Hatfield and a town in Belgium continue to blossom with school children coming to the UK to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Commemorative Royal mugs and fish and chips will be just a few of the treats in line for pupils from the town of Merksplas when they visit in June.

It is the heroic actions of John Harper – the only Doncaster-born recipient of the Victoria Cross – which inspired the links between the two towns, which have been officially twinned since 2009.

The 33-year-old corporal, a member of the York and Lancaster Regiment, died on September 29, 1944, when a platoon under his command battled to seize the Depot de Mendicitie, near Antwerp, from enemy hands.

He charged through a hail of grenades and gunfire shooting several German soldiers and taking others prisoner as he seized their dugouts but was killed as he returned to his platoon.

Twinning committee member Gordon Harper, whose father was John’s cousin, can’t wait to welcome his Flemish counterparts and help develop further cultural relations.

He said: “It was very emotional to go and stand on the spot where he was killed and see where he did what he did. It was quite a tearful experience.

“When I have been on visits there, I’ve had young children running up to me who know all about John Harper and what he did. They take it very seriously and it’s really important to them.”

The Hatfield committee is in the process of applying for EU funding to help cover the costs of activities planned between June 29 and July 1.

Mr Harper added: “While they’re here, they’ll visit schools in the area, take part in outdoor activities and also a Party in the Park at Ash Hill Academy on the Saturday night.

“We’re calling the event a Celebration of Youth. John Harper is the catalyst but now it’s about a wider cultural exchange.”

A group of pupils from the Ash Hill Academy will also be heading out to Merksplas for a visit in March, taking in a visit to John Harper’s grave and memorial.

From: http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/community/twinning-visit-between-towns-linked-by-vc-hero-to-mark-diamond-jubilee-1-4320700

News - War hero’s plaque set to be replaced (Worksop)

A PLAQUE honouring the bravery of a Worksop war hero will be replaced after it was stolen last week.

The brass plaque, which honours Victoria Cross medal-winner William Henry Johnson, was fixed to a stone in Worksop Memorial Park.

Police believe the plaque, worth £10 in scrap value, was taken between 4pm on 19th January and 9am on Friday 20th January.

County councillor for Worksop East Glynn Gilfoyle said he was more than happy to stump up the cash to replace the plaque.

“Anyone who would stoop to the depths of stealing something like that for me, I think, its as bad as grave robbing,” he said.

“I would hope that they are caught and get a strong sentence for it. It’s disgusting.”

“I cannot understand the mentality of some people.”

Sgt Johnson was born in Worksop on 15th October 1890.

A married man with three children, he enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters and served mainly in France.

On 3rd October 1918 at Ramicourt in France, he single-handedly charged a machine gun emplacement, capturing two machine guns.

Despite being severely wounded during the attack, he went on another solo run, silencing more enemy machine guns.

Worksop’s Royal British Legion secretary Brian Madden said the theft was ‘despicable’.

“I do not know how they have the cheek,” he said. “But it’s an unfortunate trend throughout the whole country. The people who’ve done this are lower than the low.”

“He was Worksop born and bred, who later was awarded with a Victoria Cross. That in itself has got to be remembered.”

Mr Madden added: “He is part of Worksop’s heritage and it’s important not to forget that.”

Sgt Johnson is one of ten Sherwood Foresters to be honoured in the Great War. He was presented with the Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 29th March 1919.

A year later he was awarded the French Medaille Militaire and founded the Worksop branch of the RBL in 1922.

He died in Arnold in April 1945 and is buried at Redhill cemetery.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Sherwood Foresters Museum at Nottingham Castle. A duplicate is held at Bassetlaw Council offices on Potter Street.

There is also a picture of him in the new Worksop Library, on Memorial Avenue.

The cost of replacing the plaque is expected to cost up to £70. Coun Gilfoyle said he would use some of the money left in his EDI fund.

From: http://www.worksopguardian.co.uk/news/local-news/war_hero_s_plaque_set_to_be_replaced_1_4211921

Article - A tale of amazing bravery from one of Doncaster’s finest heroes

IF I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.

The words of the famous Rupert Brooke war poem could have been penned specifically for Corporal John William Harper.

Of course, the harrowing reality is that he was just one of thousands of gallant British soldiers whose final, tragic moments were played out on World War II battlefields across Western Europe.

But Cpl Harper’s story is one that lives on, thanks to a dedicated team intent on keeping his memory alive.

Over the coming days, Hatfield Colliery Band, members of Hatfield Town Council and family relative Gordon Harper will visit the compact, rural town of Merksplas in Belgium, a stone’s throw from the border with the Netherlands for a series of remembrance events.

For it was near here on September 29, 1944 that the married, Hatfield born and bred peat worker, was fatally gunned down by German soldiers as the trench warfare of World War Two raged across Europe.

He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry that can be awarded to British forces and remains the only Doncaster-born soldier in the medal’s 155 year history to pick up the honour.

Gordon said: “John’s story is an amazing one, one that should be preserved and told to future generations. Acts of bravery like his should not go unnoticed and forgotten and that’s why we are keeping his memory alive.”

The story begins nearly 100 years ago with John’s birth in the then small and mostly agricultural village of Hatfield Woodhouse. From his home in Slay Pits Lane, young John and his father George worked the land as peat cutters on the fertile fields in and around the village.

He married a local girl, Lily, and the pair moved to a house in Thorne. But the couple’s lives were to change with the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and in April 1940, John, like thousands of others, was enlisted into the war effort as the menace of Nazi Germany spread rapidly across mainland Europe.

Signed up to the York and Lancaster Regiment, Cpl Harper’s finest hour, but sadly tragic final moments, came in 1944 as the battle to liberate Belgium and Holland entered its final bloody stages and the platoon under his command battled to seize the Depot de Mendicitie near Antwerp from enemy hands.

In a handwritten memoir passed to the family, Geoff Cooper, a former comrade of Cpl Harper takes up the story: “At about 4am on the day of the attack, we left the copse and advanced about a mile towards the depot.

“After climbing over a fence, we were told to fix bayonets and at the order, charge. We had to gallop over this open area, about three hundred yards or so to the moat bank where, unbeknown to us Germans were dug in. We flattened ourselves with Cpl Harper at the helm.

“He motioned to us to be quiet - you could see the Jerry helmets. But thinking it may be part of the Polish Armoured Division, he called across, heard the name Fritz and that’s where the main attack began.”

Under a hail of grenades and gunfire, Cpl Harper rampaged through the German troops, taking prisoners, shooting the enemy and seizing their dugouts in a violent and fearsome firefight.

“Cpl Harper went to investigate, bringing another prisoner. Then he went a second time with our section’s left over grenades and took out a machine gun nest, allowing our supporting back-up to move through.

“But unfortunately he was killed while returning to us, his section. He was kind, thoughtful and considered us 18-year-olds as if we were his siblings.”

In the days that followed, the area, including the nearby town of Merksplas fell to the Allies, largely thanks to Cpl Harper’s selfless courage - and so began another chapter in the story.

The soldier was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour and buried at the nearby Leopoldsburg war cemetery - and then the story of his bravery remained untouched for another quarter of a century - until a chance discovery by Gordon unearthed the tale once again.

For one morning in 1968, while himself stationed in the military in Libya, Gordon was idly leafing through a copy of The Victor comic and became fascinated by the story on the front page - The Stubborn Tyke - which told Cpl Harper’s story in stirring comic book fashion.

And when Gordon recounted the story to his family, he was amazed to find that Cpl Harper was actually his dad’s cousin.

“No one had ever mentioned it,” he said. “But the whole amazing story came out. I was fascinated.”

Since then, Gordon has set about helping to keep the story of his brave relative alive and was instrumental, along with members of Hatfield Town Council, in establishing a permanent memorial in Hatfield Woodhouse cemetery while his medal is now on show at the Y&L Regiment Museum in Rotherham.

A memorial has also been erected in Merksplas and over the next few days, members of Hatfield Colliery Band will mark Cpl Harper’s life with a series of remembrance concerts and services in the Belgian town, now officially twinned with Hatfield.

“He is treated like a real hero over there,” added Gordon. “Children are taught about John and what he did - they have a real reverence for him.”

“We have built up strong links with Merksplas to organise cultural exchanges such as this one,” he added. “John’s sister Joan is still alive and she is extremely proud of her brother.

“She told me that he was a very humble man who would rather walk away from confrontation rather than get involved. It is hard to believe that he had that in him to do what he did. His is a truly remarkable story.”

And at the going down of the sun in a small corner of Belgium this weekend, the courageous deeds of one man will be well and truly remembered.

From: http://www.thornegazette.co.uk/news/local-news/a_tale_of_amazing_bravery_from_one_of_doncaster_s_finest_heroes_1_3966998

News - Memorabilia gift to museum sheds light on war hero Collie

COLLIE Sallmayer was the sort of officer his men would die for.

Just after the end of the First World War one of his soldiers, Sherwood Foresters Lance Corporal J Freeman, of 15 Wordsworth Road, West Bridgford, wrote to Sallmayer at the regimental barracks in Kilworth Camp, County Cork.

"I am proud of having served with you and, also the platoon, would go through fire and water for you. Perhaps you already know that, Sir."

LCpl Freeman was probably referring to a day of bitter fighting on the San Sisto Ridge in northern Italy when 2nd Lieutenant Coleman Leonard James Maurice Sallmayer of the 1/8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters won the Military Cross.

The Foresters were holding a 1,000m line against a massed attack by the Austrian army.

Casualties were heavy, officers falling at the head of their troops. Sallmayer was the only one left to command a hard-pressed company of men. Under heavy fire, he organised an orderly withdrawal, never leaving his men ... even though he was in agony, his leg having been splintered by shrapnel from an exploding shell.

It was during the same battle that Foresters senior officer, Lt Colonel Charles Hudson, won the Victoria Cross.

This week, more than 90 years after Sallmayer's heroism saved the company, the medal he won that day was handed over to the Sherwood Foresters museum. It came with a few pieces of the shrapnel that was embedded in his leg, all part of a remarkable collection of memorabilia passed on by his family.

Collie Sallmayer's Military Cross is all the more valuable to the Sherwood Foresters museum, housed in Nottingham Castle, because he won it twice.

In the final weeks of the war, having been returned to active duty after the wounds suffered at San Sisto Ridge, Sallmayer was leading an attack in northern France to take ground the Germans had held since 1914.

They put up fierce resistance, heavy machine-gun fire forcing the attack to waver. Sallmayer rallied his troops and urged them forward until they had reached and captured their objective. He was later awarded a bar to his MC.

Now his medals and letters, including the one from a grateful L Cpl Freeman, together with a silver-plated knife, fork and spoon stamped with the Foresters' badge, have been handed to the museum.

The articles had been passed down to cousins Colleen Howells, stepdaughter of Lt Sallmayer, and Elizabeth Rees who decided that now was the right time for them to go to the museum.

Colleen's mother Daisy married Coleman (Collie) Sallmayer in 1938, just a few months before he died of TB. Daisy then remarried and had Colleen.

When Daisy passed away Coleman Sallmayer's effects were split between Colleen and her cousin Elizabeth Rees. As both are suffering from failing health, they have chosen to donate the items to the museum.They were delivered from Mrs Howell's home in Wales by family friend William O'Brien who explained: "Colleen is not in good health and she felt the collection should be given to the museum to ensure its safety. She feels it is the most appropriate place.

"They are very proud of their association with Collie Sallmayer and the Sherwood Foresters."

The items were received by Cindy Baines, curator and assistant regimental secretary, and museum trustee Cliff Housley, who said: "It is an absolutely wonderful collection. To have so many items from one man is fantastic."

Documents will be preserved and the medals will go on show.

Sallmayer's home was in the heart of London's Mayfair.

"He had studied in Heidelberg before the war and later was a teacher. He was a true academic," said Mr O'Brien.

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Memorabilia-gift-museum-sheds-light-war-hero/story-13436916-detail/story.html

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