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254913Sig. John Willie Holdsworth
British Army 310th Brigade Royal Field Artillery
from:Thornton
John Holdsworth signed up August 1914 in Pals Battalion aged 16. Initially he was sent to a coastal battery at South Shields. He arrived in France in June 1915. He was first injured in June 1916, He returned to the lines in December 1916. On the 21st of August he was being buried, when he moved. He was barely alive and was sent to UK where the remnants of his damaged lung were surgically removed. Injury caused by shrapnel from German shellfire. Death notices had already been sent to his father with letters from his superiors. His obituary was published in the Shipley Times and Express on the 31st of August 1917.
John survived until May 1975 with one lung and some plumbing in silver. A remarkable testimony to his strength, the surgeons and infection control.
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