Dysartian
Selfless Sacrifice - WW1 Hero Company Sergeant Major John Cranston (posthumous DCM) and Wife
I was privileged to photograph some poignant WWI war photos and clean them up for our neighbours for publication. They kindly gave me permission to post on Flickr (a book is also being written in Australia) a memorial of a forgotten real story of sacrifice and heroism which makes the Hollywood film 'Saving Private Ryan' pale into insignificance.
Seven brothers served king and country in WW1 but only three of them made it home and only one of the brave Cranston lads survived World War I unscathed. The scale of the tragedy drove their mother from their home in Haddington, East Lothian, to eventually finish up in a mental hospital in Australia. Distraught Elizabeth was frequently seen standing on a railway platform “waiting for my boys to come home”.
Now, after her great-grandson’s campaigning for a permanent memorial to the Cranstons’ sacrifice, in their home town, Stuart Pearson is collaborating with Haddington author and historian Bob Mitchell on a book about his forebears. Stuart travelled from Australia – where the family settled after the war to present his case for a dedicated memorial and the good news is that there will indeed be a permanent memorial.
The tragic tale started three years before the 'war to end all wars' (in 1911) when dad Alexander died of cancer, leaving wife Elizabeth to raise their 11 surviving children. The couple’s first child, their daughter Margaret, died from burns in 1881, aged 16 months. By 1916, three of her brothers had joined her in an early grave.
On May 18, James, 28, died from tuberculosis contracted while training as a sapper with the Royal Engineers at Aldershot, Hampshire.
His brother John, (in picture) 34, was a company sergeant major in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. He died as the result of shell fire in the First Battle of the Somme on July 16. He received a posthumous Distinguished Conduct Medal for “conspicuous bravery under fire”.
On November 13, Royal Scots Fusiliers private Adam, 30, was listed as missing, presumed killed in action. He was one of 100,000 soldiers of the British 5th Army who marched in formation across no man’s land in the Battle of Ancre. Thousands were mown down by German machine guns.
The oldest brother, Royal Engineers Sergeant Alexander, 39, was posted missing, presumed killed at the Second Battle of the Somme on March 22, 1918.
The lives of two more enlisted Cranston brothers were changed forever by the war. William, a talented violinist, lost an eye and three fingers under fire in France in July 1916 and George, a lance corporal with the 8th Royal Scots, was so severely gassed in France in 1918 that his skin would periodically peel off for the rest of his life.
Only Robert, who joined the Royal Flying Corps when he turned 18, survived unhurt. He worked as ground crew far from the front. After the war, he was an aviation inspector in Australia and died from a heart attack in 1950.
Two brothers did not enlist. Andrew was rejected on health grounds. He died from TB in 1923. Angus was too young to serve but fought in World War II in the Australian army. The family emigrated to join their mum in Sydney in 1921, but tragically poor Angus suffered survivor guilt and became an alcoholic.
Elizabeth never recovered from her sons’ deaths and had a mental breakdown, living out her days in a mental hospital in Sydney.
Selfless Sacrifice - WW1 Hero Company Sergeant Major John Cranston (posthumous DCM) and Wife
I was privileged to photograph some poignant WWI war photos and clean them up for our neighbours for publication. They kindly gave me permission to post on Flickr (a book is also being written in Australia) a memorial of a forgotten real story of sacrifice and heroism which makes the Hollywood film 'Saving Private Ryan' pale into insignificance.
Seven brothers served king and country in WW1 but only three of them made it home and only one of the brave Cranston lads survived World War I unscathed. The scale of the tragedy drove their mother from their home in Haddington, East Lothian, to eventually finish up in a mental hospital in Australia. Distraught Elizabeth was frequently seen standing on a railway platform “waiting for my boys to come home”.
Now, after her great-grandson’s campaigning for a permanent memorial to the Cranstons’ sacrifice, in their home town, Stuart Pearson is collaborating with Haddington author and historian Bob Mitchell on a book about his forebears. Stuart travelled from Australia – where the family settled after the war to present his case for a dedicated memorial and the good news is that there will indeed be a permanent memorial.
The tragic tale started three years before the 'war to end all wars' (in 1911) when dad Alexander died of cancer, leaving wife Elizabeth to raise their 11 surviving children. The couple’s first child, their daughter Margaret, died from burns in 1881, aged 16 months. By 1916, three of her brothers had joined her in an early grave.
On May 18, James, 28, died from tuberculosis contracted while training as a sapper with the Royal Engineers at Aldershot, Hampshire.
His brother John, (in picture) 34, was a company sergeant major in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. He died as the result of shell fire in the First Battle of the Somme on July 16. He received a posthumous Distinguished Conduct Medal for “conspicuous bravery under fire”.
On November 13, Royal Scots Fusiliers private Adam, 30, was listed as missing, presumed killed in action. He was one of 100,000 soldiers of the British 5th Army who marched in formation across no man’s land in the Battle of Ancre. Thousands were mown down by German machine guns.
The oldest brother, Royal Engineers Sergeant Alexander, 39, was posted missing, presumed killed at the Second Battle of the Somme on March 22, 1918.
The lives of two more enlisted Cranston brothers were changed forever by the war. William, a talented violinist, lost an eye and three fingers under fire in France in July 1916 and George, a lance corporal with the 8th Royal Scots, was so severely gassed in France in 1918 that his skin would periodically peel off for the rest of his life.
Only Robert, who joined the Royal Flying Corps when he turned 18, survived unhurt. He worked as ground crew far from the front. After the war, he was an aviation inspector in Australia and died from a heart attack in 1950.
Two brothers did not enlist. Andrew was rejected on health grounds. He died from TB in 1923. Angus was too young to serve but fought in World War II in the Australian army. The family emigrated to join their mum in Sydney in 1921, but tragically poor Angus suffered survivor guilt and became an alcoholic.
Elizabeth never recovered from her sons’ deaths and had a mental breakdown, living out her days in a mental hospital in Sydney.