My Great Grandfather's name is on Thiepval Memorial. Before the war he worked as a fireman at Lever bros. He joined the Welsh fusiliers at the out break of war. He was a despatch runner/rider..a very dangerous job with a high mortality rate. We have a letter he sent home from the front..it is very precious to us. In it he talks about all kinds of pleasantries and asking about the family with no mention of the hardship and horrors that he much have endured and witnessed.
He was killed in the Battle of the Somme when he stepped on or rode over a landmine in the course of his duties. His body was never recovered. He was 32 and left a wife who was pregnant with twins and three small daughters.
His name is on the memorial at Birkenhead and at Lever bros. One day I will go to salute his name at Thiepval.
was at Thiepval and a lot more of the war cemetarys {spent about 10 days traveling round in my camper van}about 15 years ago. Nobody walks away from thiepval with dry eyes.
Ships that pass in the night, seldom seen and soon forgoten
It must be incredibly moving. As said I plan to go there some day.
I have been on holiday in France and did see some small military cemataries...and also wide empty farmers fields where memorial stones had been erected paying tribute to the men who gave their lives in the battles there... and who may still lie under that earth. Very poignant.
Maybe us with Duckers as rellies should give more info to see if we can trace any links. It is not one of the more common names...I suppose we are all related soemwhere!
Was browsing Birkenhead Market on one of my infrequent visits to the town and found my grandmother's brother's "Penny" in the coin shop there. It had been polished to a great degree, a lot of the detail polished out, so he must have been well loved and missed. Found out on the web that he had died in India and was a member of the RAMC, still looking for further details. His name was Thomas Samuels.
There have been a few riots in birkenhead one I believe was called The Garaboldi riots. I think it was about persecution going on somewhere else.I read a book and I recall it said shops had been looted, and heavies had to come from outside to restore orderand get the stuff back
There were also anti German riots connected to the sinking of the Lusitania of the coast off Ireland. Wirral Globe Other chapters in the book deal with other matters such as 'Injustice in Birkenhead'. This tells of the Birkenhead Riots following the sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania by a U Boat in 1915 while on its way to Liverpool.
The day after anti-German riots broke out. In Birkenhead police tried to protect the first victim who had a butcher's shop at Watson Street but it was wrecked after police were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Riots lasted for a couple of days and pubs were closed.
Some luckless victims were not German related. Fried fish dealer Thomas Lincoln, of Price Street, had his shop smashed up by a mob made up mostly of women and young boys. They looted everything after someone said he had sold a fish to a German!
Last edited by jonno40; 8th Aug 20099:02am.
It all makes perfect sense expressed in dollars and cents ,pound shillings and pence
My Uncle's daughter married a Duckers.
