My Theme for the A-Z Challenge 2023
Family Traits, Quirks and Characteristics
H for HEROIC
My Grandfather - William Danson
Granddad was
William Danson (1885-1963), the fifth son of James Danson and Maria
Rawcliffe of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. He married Alice English in
1907. Here I
am putting the emphasis on the documents relating to his service in
World War One.
During the First World War, Granddad fought at the Battle of Passchendaele and won
the Military Medal at Givenchy, with the postcards below kept in the
shoebox of family memorabilia in a cupboard by the fire. I have never
seen the actual medal as it went to his youngest daughter Peggy when
she emigrated to Australia in 1949.
Granddad served in the King's
Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. and I wrote to the regimental museum at
Lancaster Castle for more information . I was sent a copy of an extract from the Regimental War Diary, with my grandfather's name at the foot of the entry.
The citation (a poor typed copy) reads:
"For conspicuous gallantry in action at GIVENCHY on 9th April 1918,This N.C.O commanded a Lewis Gun section...He did good work with his gun during
the attack inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.
When the other N.C.O. in command of the other Lewis Gun was wounded,
he took over the gun and controlled the fire of both teams"
9th April was five days after Granddad's 33rd birthday,
A copy of William Danson's
record card confirmed his address in Poulton, the date of his enlistment
(18th July 1916) and occupation as livestock foreman (he worked in the
local auction mart.) It also brought the first knowledge that he had
been wounded in action.
Granddad was a taciturn country man at heart and like
many of those who had experienced the horrors of the First World War,
he would never talk about this time. He lost two brothers in the war - John and George.
But
Granddad left a moving legacy of his war in the many postcards he
sent and brought back. These remain my family treasures and feature on
many of my blog postings.
The two photographs here illustrate something of the camaraderie of war, with granddad arrowed in the image on the left.
This
photograph on the right intrigued me when I first saw it as a child.
There was no Scottish connection that I knew of on my mother's side, so
why was Granddad wearing a kilt and a tammie? The
story was that in the camaraderie of World War One he became friendly
with some Scottish soldiers, and as a laugh he had dressed up in one of
their kilts, with a tammie, and had his photograph taken to send home.
It must have been taken in France as the reverse of the photograph
indicates it is a "Carte Postale" with space for "Correspondance" and
"Addresse".
Below are just a few. examples of the beautiful embroidered cards Granddad sent to his family back home.
The messages, written in pencil, were short and prosaic with a favourite comment to reassure his family back home - "I am in the pink". Not really I think, given the horror he must have witnessed.
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| Alice with Edith, Kathleen (my mother), Harry and baby Billy, c.1916. |
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| William and Alice, c.1916 |
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| William and Alice, 1938 at my parent's wedding |
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Onto I for INSOLVENT
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Those embroidered postcards are indeed treasures, I wish I had just one.
ReplyDeleteThose embroidered cards are quite unique! And how wonderful to have so many cards and those photos as well. I love the story your grandad's tam-and-kilt solidarity with his Scottish compatriots.
ReplyDeleteThey sent such beautiful postcards possibly lulling their family into thinking it wasn’t too bad. William’s MM proved it was challenging to say the very least. heroic indeed.
ReplyDeleteYes, Grandad’s collection of cards mean so much to me as they were what started me on the ancestral trail.
ReplyDeleteForgotten again! Yes the previous comment was from me - Scotsue.
ReplyDelete