JCB marking sacrifice of employees’ relatives
A GIANT Roll of Honour is on display in the World Headquarters reception of JCB which features relatives of present workers who served in the First World War. Many have connections with the Leek and Cheadle areas.
The display is open to the public until Friday, November 9.
Those with Cheadle connections are:
n Harry Chilton-merryweather
who was born on August 6, 1893, the seventh child of eleven. The 17th Battalion was a bantam battalion for people under 5ft 3in. Harry was caught in a mustard gas attack at Wijdendrift on October 19, 1917 and died of his injuries on October 23, 1917. He is buried at Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium.
n Sidney Chiltonmerryweather, of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
After joining the Northumberland Fusiliers in 1917, Sidney Chiltonmerryweather served in Egypt, stationed near to The Dead Sea. He is recorded as saying the nearest thing he saw to the enemy, was throwing grenades at dummies with German helmets. Other Army records giving information were destroyed by fire during the Blitz in 1940.
Both are relatives of Jonathan Chilton-merryweather of Tean. n JCB employee Dave Atkinson
from Fulford and son Jack spoke about their relative Private Arthur Rowe.
Private Arthur Rowe was wounded by German artillery during the battle of Poelcappelle at Passchendaele. As the battle raged around him, he spent some time on the field before he could be rescued and taken to a field hospital. His leg had to be amputated, pneumonia set in and a week later he died on October 16, 1917.
He was 34 and left a widow, Gertrude, and young family. Shortly after his death, his wife received a letter from a nurse who had looked after him. She sent her condolences and talked of his last few days: “There were times when he revived and was quite himself. I remember that Sunday he was much better and even joked with me about the Scotch boy who was helping me. He was longing for an apple and one of the nurses brought him one, and he was so pleased he tried to eat it but he was too sick. The last afternoon he heard the paperboy and he asked for a paper. I put a light beside him and when I asked him the news, he laughed and said ‘The war isn’t over yet.’
“He was as natural as could be, in fact the last time I saw him he was reading the paper after saying good night. He was a very sick man and I don’t believe he was conscious of how sick he was because he spoke of going to Blighty. He suffered but was very grievous and he was a very good patient very grateful for all that was done for him. He spoke about the children and the one he had never seen.” n Private George Whitehurst. C Company 19th Battalion Middlesex Regiment.
Private George Whitehurst joined up in 1915 with three brothers and all survived. He served as a stretcher-bearer and medic on the Western front and also at The Somme.
His family say he never really spoke about his experiences after the war and he went back to work in the New Haden Pit in Cheadle and later with the local council.
He was great grandfather to JCB employee Andy Clarke of Cheadle.
Andy’s other great grandfather
Gunner Harry Darby 91262 from the Royal Horse and Field Artillery also saw active service. Gunner Harry Darby was a horse driver who spent time on the Western Front and also at Gallipoli. He survived the war and went back to work looking after horses at London Midland & Scottish Railway and then later with British Railways in South Staffordshire. He also transferred to the Army Reserve.
Those with Leek connections all have current employees whose relatives are featured on the Roll of Honour. n JCB employee Jamie Jeffery
from Leek had two relatives who served, David and John Oakes.
John was taken as a prisoner of war for two years, and was ordered to milk cows for an elderly lady.
The Germans would take the milk, so he would hide milk and turnips under the hedge to survive.
After the war he returned home to work as a farmer and later bought New Close Farm, Hollington where he lived out his years. John’s older brother, David, also served in the war. n JCB employee Claudia Hill
from Leek
Private Leonard Spencer Garrett 4472 great grandfather of Claudia Hill, served in C Company First Battalion 4th Division Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
Private Leonard Garrett was one of five brothers, two of whom also saw active service in the army and one in the RAF, in World War I. Leonard served as a stretcher bearer.
He survived the war and went on to work as a printer and colour mixer, in Chinley, Derbyshire. He married Irene in 1934 and they had a son in 1940. Irene also went on to play an active role in fundraising for the Royal British Legion right up to her death in 1992 at the age of 82. n Private George Oakley 33417 11th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers was the grandfather of Graham Deavall of Leek., who works for JCB Earthmovers. Private George Oakley saw active service with his battalion in 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, in particular the Battles of Albert, Bazentin, Pozieres and Ancre Heights.
In 1917, he moved on to Ypres and the Battles of Messines and Pilkern. The unit was disbanded near Dieppe on August 12, 1918. George was wounded during the battles at Ypres and he was discharged in 1919.
He received a Silver War Badge for UK service personnel who had been honourably discharged owing to wounds or sickness. George died in 1960, aged 64. n JCB Loadall employee, Robert Eades.
Gunner James Herbert Wright of the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery (3rd Cavalry Division) was the great grandfather of Robert Eades, of Leek.
Gunner James Wright was involved in most of the major battles of the First World War with his regiment seeing service in the First Battle of Ypres, 1914 and Second Battle of Ypres, 1915. James was eventually gassed (by chlorine), but fought on and was awarded the Military Medal for ‘Bravery In The Field.’
On his return home to Hinckley he was a very sick man, suffering from the effects of the gassing. His anaemia obliged him to eat one half a pound of raw minced liver per day.
He died 10 years after the end of the war, leaving a widow and four children. He was one of many war heroes who died after the war had finished and whose sacrifice is therefore not commemorated on any War Memorial.