Joesph's Story.
The 1901 Census records that Joseph was born in Stockport and was then working as a labourer for a grain merchant. Later, he married and lived with his wife and son at 52 Shawcross Street, Stockport. An examination of his on-line medal entitlement shows his original service number to have been 3100. This number is associated with someone joining the local Territorial Battalion - the 6th Cheshires - in the early part of 1915. Joseph was possibly wounded or sick and away from his unit for quite a while. When he had recovered, he was posted to the 10th Battalion which may have needed the troops, and he would have been re-assigned to them and given the above new number. This will have been towards the end of 1916. On 15 June 1917, the Battalion took over a section of reserve trenches known as "Hanbury Support", near Neuve Eglise. This Belgian village, now called Nieuwkerke, is 12 kilometres south of the town of Ieper (then Ypres). The next day, the Battalion's War Diary records that there was intermittent shelling throughout the day by both sides. At one point, the Germans shelled with gas, and it was necessary for the Cheshires to put their respirators on. There was a similar pattern of shelling during the 17th. Joseph was the only soldier to be killed during the three days and War Diary for the 16th clearly records "1 Other Rank killed". As such, the later official return to the War Graves Commission records the date of his death as the 17 June.