Joseph's Story.
Joseph lived all his life in the Stockport area until he enlisted in the army in early 1916, leaving his job at Bennett's Ironworks. The family home, where he lived with his parents, was at 98 Georges Road, Heaton Norris (near to the present location of B & Q). He probably went on active service as part of one of the drafts of troops replacing the casualties from the early weeks of the Battle of the Somme. The Battle had started on 1 July, so Joseph would have only been with his unit for a few weeks when he was killed. On 6 October 1916, the Battalion relieved the 2nd South Lancashire’s in the front line at Hessian Trench. This former German frontline trench, near the village of Thiepval, had been captured in late September. The next day, the Battalion's War Diary records "Holding front line. Enemy artillery active. Casualties - 1 officer wounded. 2 Other Ranks killed, 7 wounded." Joseph was one of the men who had been killed (later Regimental records indicate that three were killed). He has no known grave perhaps suggesting that he was killed by the enemy shelling.