Trail launched in memory of South Yorkshire’s most courageous
FIRST WORLD War Victoria Cross recipients from Doncaster and the Dearne Valley have been honoured with a new trail dedicated to their memory.
Commemoration project Doncaster 1914-18 launched the trail yesterday with an event at the Ashworth Barracks in Balby with other heritage groups from the area which had played a part.
Doncaster Central MP Rosie Winterton attended the event alongside the project’s volunteers, dignitaries and councillors.
The trail explores places of significance in the area which relate to those who earned the VC – the highest award given for courage.
Project manager Jude Holland said: “The event was really nice, especially to celebrate the hard work that the volunteers put into researching.”
The trail is available as a free leaflet, but can be downloaded through the Doncaster 1914-18 digital app.
It allows residents and visitors to the area to explore sites linked to the six local men awarded the VC during the Great War.
Among them was Mexborough miner William Hackett, who is thought to be the only tunneller to have been awarded the Victoria Cross during the conflict when he lost his life staying behind to help an injured miner in a collapse.
Arksey man George Henry Wyatt won his medal just shy of 100 years ago on April 9, 1917, at the Battle of Arras.
Doncaster 1914-18 has worked with the Mexborough and District Heritage Society, the Conisbrough and Denaby Main Heritage Group and the Victoria Cross Trust to produce the trail, with volunteers contributing around 100 hours to produce it.
The four others were Lance Corporal Thomas Bryan, Sergeant Laurence Calvert, Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson and Group Captain Gilbert Insall.
Doncaster 1914-18 is a fouryear project supported by National Lottery organisations through the Heritage Lottery Fund, commemorating the centenary of the First World War.
The Project encourages the people of Doncaster to uncover and share their own stories of the conflict.
A series of events, exhibitions and a new website explore the role of the borough, its people and the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in the conflict.
Since Doncaster 1914-18 started in January 2015, volunteers have given around four thousand hours of their time. And the trail itself has taken around four months to put together.
To download the app, search Doncaster 1914-18 on Android and iOS services.