209285 Dmr. Joseph Arthur Roper British Army 6th Btn. D Coy. West Yorkshire Regiment from:Belgrave Place, Bradford Joe Roper was my paternal grandfather. He was wounded and discharged from the army in January 1918. It is therefore likely he was wounded either in the last phases of the Somme or maybe in the Battle of Poelcapelle (Ypres). He was with D Company of the 6th Battalion.
He spoke little of this time but did tell me he remembered being hit and falling into a shell hole. He said it was a long time before he was found. He also recalled being put into an ambulance and the blood from the bloke above dripping down on him. He said following his treatment he was put into a ward where recovery was not expected. In his eighties, Joe showed me the scar which ran from his breastbone around the lower left ribs almost to his spine.
Joe lived a long and honourable life, he served as a sergeant in the Home Guard in WW2 at DeHavillands airfield in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. His first wife died during the late 1930's leaving him with two teenage boys. During the depression he whitewashed people's outdoor lavatories to supplement his income.
I live in Australia and am trying to establish which battle downed Joe. I wish I had spent more time with him.
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