Friday 17th May 1918

Billets at Cornedo Vicentino

Pte. Ernest Wilson (11751) (see 23^rd March) was reported by Sgts. John Stephenson (see 15^th May) and Edward Arthur Myers (see 7^th May) and Cpls. Joseph Edward Robinson (see 22^nd March) and Fred Greenwood MM (24522) (see 15^th March) as “absent off Commanding Officer’s parade at 2.30pm until found in billets, drunk, at 9pm”; on the orders of Maj. James Christopher Bull MC (see 4^th May) he would undergo 14 days’ Field Punishment no.1.

Pte. Stanley Hirst (see 13^th April) was reported by Sgt. Harry Holmes MM (see 9^th May) and Cpl. Reginald Robinson (see 24^th March) for “not complying with Battalion orders”; on the orders of Capt. James Watson Paterson (see 8^th November 1917) he was to be confined to barracks for three days.

Pte. Percy Harry Bentley (see 27^th March) was reported by men from the RAMC as having been drunk; he would be admonished by Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 30^th April).

L.Cpl. John Lamb Watt (see 29^th October 1917) was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance and 39^th Casualty Clearing Station to 62^nd General Hospital at Bordighera; he was suffering from “I.C.T.” (inflammation of the connective tissue) to his neck.

Following a period in hospital (details unknown) Pte. Albert Moore (see 9^th August 1917) was evacuated to England; he was suffering from chronic bronchitis and pulmonary TB.

L.Cpl. James Barker (12288) (see 31^st March), who had been in England since having been wounded in March while serving in France with 2DWR, was discharged from Keighley War Hospital and posted to the Regimental Depot at Halifax.

Pte. Percival Albert Wiggins (see 28^th March), who had been admitted to hospital whilst home on leave, was discharged to duty from the Camp Hospital at Northern Command Depot in Ripon.

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald reported news that Pte. John Dinsdale (see 6^th October 1916) had been wounded and was in hospital in Colchester. In the absence of a surviving service record it has not been possible to establish when, or in what circumstances, he had been wounded or when he had left the Battalion.

The same edition also reported on the presentation held in Austwick for 2Lt. Wilson Pritchard M.M. (see 6^th May) of the Army Cyclist Corps.

Presentation to an Austwick Hero. 

On Friday evening at the Church School, Second Lieutenant Pritchard, Army Cyclist Corps, elder son of Mr. W. Pritchard, Main Street, was presented with a handsome silver wristlet watch, in recognition of his having won the Military Medal for bravery on the field of battle. On August 3rd 1917, whilst acting as Corps Observer, when reinforcements were called for by a Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment. He took command of a party of 40 men and helped to repel a German counter-attack and on 5th August, after breaking through and penetrating the German lines for a considerable distance. His party was blown up in a German dug-out, and he dug out and rescued a wounded man of the Gloucester Regiment, carrying him about 1,000 yards through the German lines. The presentation on behalf of the villagers was made by the Rev. A. Ingilby, who said he was proud of the part which the Lieutenant had played. He was a man he was pleased to shake hands with. He then detailed the circumstances under which Second Lieutenant Pritchard won the Military Medal. Second Lieutenant Pritchard modestly claimed that he had only done his duty, and said that he should always value the beautiful present they had given him.

The newspaper also carried In Memoriam notices for Sgt. John Hudson (see 23rd November 1917), who had been killed in action on 23^rd May 1917

HUDSON – In affectionate remembrance of our dear pal, Sergeant Jack Hudson, killed in action, May 23rd, 1917.

His gallant life, how stored it was

With bright hopes unfulfilled.

John and George in France and Italy.

HUDSON – In loving memory of our dear son and brother, Sergeant Jack Hudson, who was killed in action, May 23rd, 1917.

His did his part with a willing heart,

And the rest we leave to God.

From Mother, Sisters and Brothers, 5, Pear Tree Terrace, Bradley

 

Sgt. John (Jack) Hudson