Rugby League War Heroes : Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:57 pm  

One of my big interests in life is the two World Wars, wargraves and the memorials to those who served this country. I am a local volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and have adopted a number of wargraves of Battle of Britain pilots. I give them a clean and tidy to maintain their appearance, befitting of the person who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. I am not sure if you have ever had a look at the CWGC website but on it is a publication listing rugby players who have served their country in its time of need. This is a link to it:- http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/Rugby%20leaflet.pdf As you can see, there aren’t any rugby league people on it. I have spoken to the CWGC people and I have been given the go ahead to produce a list of rugby league people who answered their countries call in time of conflict. I have been in contact with Stevo and we agree this is something that doesn’t exist but we have agreed it needs to exist! I have written to all the clubs for the names of people who served this country in a time of conflict. This is where you guys and gals can help. Please could you forward to me the names of people associated with your club that went to war. Not just those who made the ultimate sacrifice but those who came back. It is hoped when all the names have been collated, to produce three books of remembrance. One each to be given to The Rugby League Heritage Centre, one to the RFL HQ at Red Hall and one to the National Arboretum in Staffordshire. The details will also be passed to the CWGC for inclusion on their website. Also, I will create a register of where their final resting places are, if the fallen are buried in this country, I would like some volunteers to tend their final resting place so they aren’t forgotten. So, please send me the names of those brave people from the rugby league community who answered the call. I don’t mind being told many times about one person. It would be very sad if we missed out someone who should be remembered! You can either reply to this thread, PM me or email me directly to the project email rlwarheroes@yahoo.co.uk Thank you in advance for your help with this project. “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor, the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, WE will remember them!”

One of my big interests in life is the two World Wars, wargraves and the memorials to those who served this country. I am a local volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and have adopted a number of wargraves of Battle of Britain pilots. I give them a clean and tidy to maintain their appearance, befitting of the person who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. I am not sure if you have ever had a look at the CWGC website but on it is a publication listing rugby players who have served their country in its time of need. This is a link to it:- http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/Rugby%20leaflet.pdf As you can see, there aren’t any rugby league people on it. I have spoken to the CWGC people and I have been given the go ahead to produce a list of rugby league people who answered their countries call in time of conflict. I have been in contact with Stevo and we agree this is something that doesn’t exist but we have agreed it needs to exist! I have written to all the clubs for the names of people who served this country in a time of conflict. This is where you guys and gals can help. Please could you forward to me the names of people associated with your club that went to war. Not just those who made the ultimate sacrifice but those who came back. It is hoped when all the names have been collated, to produce three books of remembrance. One each to be given to The Rugby League Heritage Centre, one to the RFL HQ at Red Hall and one to the National Arboretum in Staffordshire. The details will also be passed to the CWGC for inclusion on their website. Also, I will create a register of where their final resting places are, if the fallen are buried in this country, I would like some volunteers to tend their final resting place so they aren’t forgotten. So, please send me the names of those brave people from the rugby league community who answered the call. I don’t mind being told many times about one person. It would be very sad if we missed out someone who should be remembered! You can either reply to this thread, PM me or email me directly to the project email rlwarheroes@yahoo.co.uk Thank you in advance for your help with this project. “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor, the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, WE will remember them!”

Re: Rugby League War Heroes : Thu Apr 21, 2011 5:27 pm  

Hello Chorley Rhino, Just to let you know about a chap who was laid to rest in my local cemetary at Arksey, just north of Doncaster. His name is Thomas Bryan V.C. He played rugby for the original Castleford Northern Union team in the 1906-07 season. His full time occupation was as a miner at Whitwood Colliery. He won his Victoria Cross at Vimy Ridge during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. He took out a German machine gun troop which was doing terrible damage on his company. This is his report; "On that glorious day our lads were held up by a machine gun, which was so well hidden we couldn't check it's deadly work. I therefore made up my mind to put a stop to it's deadly activities, so creeping over the top, I went from shell hole to shell hole in ' No Man's Land '. I crept into a communication trench, which was being held by the enemy, where I came across three Germans. This was at six o'clock in the morning. These men were so surprised that they surrendered without showing any fight and two of them presented me with their watches. I thereupon sent them down to the base with some of my men. I then went forward again, along with Sgt Maj Foster of the Fifth, and ran across a German officer, who was also delighted. Not many minutes afterwards I surprised another hun who gave up his arms as meekly as a lamb. An hour later I was still prowling around trying to fix the German machine gun team but was unable to spot it. Whilst working my way along I was spotted by one of the enemy who, letting drive, caught me in the right arm. Following this bit of hard luck I decided to try rapid fire on the place I thought the machine gun was stationed. Upon this being carried out we found, to our glee, that the gun which had been spitting forth it's fire of death, barked no more. Two of the gun team had tried to get away during our rapid fire but I shot both of them. I stayed with my comrades until half past one after which I left to have my wounds dressed. With the machine gun and it's gunners destroyed it was now an easy matter for our boys to advance." He was presented with his V.C. by King George V at St James Park, Newcastle (he was in the Northumberland Fusiliers). Then he had a reception parade through Castleford and Whitwood on to the Hightown Cricket Ground where a dinner was held in his honour. After the war he returned to the pit at Whitwood. He then moved to Norton where he worked as a miner at Askern Colliery but sometime after had to give up mining due to his war wounds. He moved to Bentley near Doncaster where he worked as a greengrocer in his own shop on Askern Road. He died in Bentley in 1945 and was buried with Full Military Honours in Arksey Cemetary with a Commonwealth Graves Commision headstone engraved with a Victoria Cross. Thomas Bryan Headstone & Photo

Hello Chorley Rhino, Just to let you know about a chap who was laid to rest in my local cemetary at Arksey, just north of Doncaster. His name is Thomas Bryan V.C. He played rugby for the original Castleford Northern Union team in the 1906-07 season. His full time occupation was as a miner at Whitwood Colliery. He won his Victoria Cross at Vimy Ridge during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. He took out a German machine gun troop which was doing terrible damage on his company. This is his report; "On that glorious day our lads were held up by a machine gun, which was so well hidden we couldn't check it's deadly work. I therefore made up my mind to put a stop to it's deadly activities, so creeping over the top, I went from shell hole to shell hole in ' No Man's Land '. I crept into a communication trench, which was being held by the enemy, where I came across three Germans. This was at six o'clock in the morning. These men were so surprised that they surrendered without showing any fight and two of them presented me with their watches. I thereupon sent them down to the base with some of my men. I then went forward again, along with Sgt Maj Foster of the Fifth, and ran across a German officer, who was also delighted. Not many minutes afterwards I surprised another hun who gave up his arms as meekly as a lamb. An hour later I was still prowling around trying to fix the German machine gun team but was unable to spot it. Whilst working my way along I was spotted by one of the enemy who, letting drive, caught me in the right arm. Following this bit of hard luck I decided to try rapid fire on the place I thought the machine gun was stationed. Upon this being carried out we found, to our glee, that the gun which had been spitting forth it's fire of death, barked no more. Two of the gun team had tried to get away during our rapid fire but I shot both of them. I stayed with my comrades until half past one after which I left to have my wounds dressed. With the machine gun and it's gunners destroyed it was now an easy matter for our boys to advance." He was presented with his V.C. by King George V at St James Park, Newcastle (he was in the Northumberland Fusiliers). Then he had a reception parade through Castleford and Whitwood on to the Hightown Cricket Ground where a dinner was held in his honour. After the war he returned to the pit at Whitwood. He then moved to Norton where he worked as a miner at Askern Colliery but sometime after had to give up mining due to his war wounds. He moved to Bentley near Doncaster where he worked as a greengrocer in his own shop on Askern Road. He died in Bentley in 1945 and was buried with Full Military Honours in Arksey Cemetary with a Commonwealth Graves Commision headstone engraved with a Victoria Cross. Thomas Bryan Headstone & Photo