Aireborough Boys, 1914 – 1918 (06)

Ken Lee sent me this piece yesterday and I thought it was just the kind of memory that I should share with you.

“Private Herbert Roberts was my grandad!

Like Lance Corporal Donald Slater who is featured on Facebook today (4th November), my grandad served with the Seaforth Highlanders. In fact he always spun the tale that he and “a mate” walked from Yeadon to Scotland so that they could join the Seaforths! Perhaps Donald was that mate, who knows?

To put the record straight, his year of birth was in fact 1896 (8th August to be precise).

Until I referred to the 1911 census I hadn’t realised that he had actually been born in Carlton – I had always assumed that he was “pure Yeadon”. I do know however that he did indeed live in Football, and I know that because he used to regale me with stories about the Music Hall that was there, when he was “nobut a lad”.

He was wounded during his time in the trenches. In fact he was wounded three times in one night. I am not quite sure exactly when he was wounded nor in which particular battle. I do know that he was sent back to the UK to recuperate but I’m not sure whether he had to go back to France once his wounds were healed. I did see the scars though and they were pretty horrific. There was one on either side of his leg (entry and exit wounds) just above his knee. One on his shoulder (entry) and one on his back (where the bullet that entered his shoulder was eventually cut out by the medics) and somewhat bizarrely, one on each buttock! After suffering his second wound he was ordered to get back from the main trench and make his way to the casualty tents. Unfortunately, as he was on his way back there was a further exchange of rifle fire. To take cover, he threw himself onto the ground close to, and in the shelter of a railway embankment. But it just wasn’t his night. Although he was out of the direct line of fire, a stray bullet hit the railway line, ricocheted off and found an extremely soft landing in my grandad’s backside! And his troubles didn’t end there – the medical teams couldn’t find the bullet and consequently, when he got back to the UK the bullet was still somewhere inside him. Eight months later (seriously!) he complained of severe discomfort in the other buttock and on investigation, the doctors located the fore-mentioned missing bullet and proceeded to remove it! Hence the second scar.

Just to round off the story…………..
Shortly after the war he married my grandma, Annie Hanson, who was a Guiseley girl. They lived for some time in Guiseley in Union Street. By the time I came onto the scene he had moved to Moorland Crescent, Guiseley (No. 22, which just so happens to be the house in which I was born). Unfortunately my grandma had died at the tender age of 42, a year before I made an appearance, so I never actually knew her.

He worked at Busfield’s mill in Guiseley and in about 1949 was involved in an accident which left him permanently lame. Some years later he returned to Yeadon and lived with my parents, me and my two sisters in Marshall Street. Just for good measure he also brought his ex-soldier son with him – so in that not-very-big house there were four aduilts and three kids. I often wonder how we all managed! These days Social Services would have a field day! Anyway as first my uncle, and then me and eventually my sisters left the happy abode to get on with our lives, he continued to reside there until he died in 1972*.

* I think that was the year he died, but I couldn’t swear to it

Hope the above is of some interest.
The web site gets better and better, by the way. Well done to all concerned.

Ken Lee.