How Harold ducked jail – and went on to become a decorated war hero
ONE of Ormskirk’s most decorated men from World War I was Sergeant 1619 (330153) CSM Harold Chisnall of the 9th King’s Liverpool Regiment, who was awarded the Military Medal, Distinguished Conduct Medal and Russian Order of St George 4th Class.
The Russian Order of St George is the highest purely military Russian medal, established by Catherine the Great and awarded during WWI by Tsar Nicholas II to soldiers from allied forces.
Several hundred were awarded to British officers, NCOs and other ranks – it is however quite a rare award and Harold may well be the only known local recipient.
Harold, born in 1893, was the son of builders’ book-keeper Charles Chisnall of 40 Chapel Street. Harold had been a keen and active member of the 1st Ormskirk Scouts. Prior to enlistment he was a collier, making a bit of a nuisance of himself in 1913 when he decided he wanted to join the Navy but couldn’t afford the uniform. He hatched a cunning plan to blackmail Dr Lax, a retired solicitor who lived at 1 St Helens Road. He based his plot on a story he’d read in which Lord Rothschild had been similarly blackmailed.
Harold ended up at Liverpool Assizes and was lucky not to be locked up.
Anyway, by 1915 Harold was off to France. At the Battle of the Somme, his actions won him the MM, the DCM and the Russian Order of St George, 4th Class.
His citation for the DCM reads: “For conspicuous gallantry during operations. When the battalion HQ dugout was blown in he worked at digging the men out under heavy shell fire. When a new headquarters was established, he ran out and connected new wires, re-establishing communications. During an attack a week later, when all the wires were cut, he laid a complete new system.”
In December 1916 Harold returned to Ormskirk for 10 days leave and he was greeted by crowds of wellwishers and hailed a hero.
He was injured in both legs in 1917 but went back to continue serving. After the Armistice, Harold put in a request to go home for family reasons. This was refused, but he went anyway, being declared AWOL. Due to that event his medals were withheld but on appeal reinstated.
Harold is honoured on the 1st Ormskirk Scouts Memorial to those who also served, which hangs in the Wigan Road Scout headquarters.