254091 Pte John Alfred Flowers British Army 5th Btn. East Yorkshire Regiment from:Kingston upon Hull In 1914 Jack Flowers joined the 5th East Yorkshire Cyclists.
In May 1918 he was with the Army Service Corps, delivering ammunition to the front line when he suffered a direct hit on the rear of the truck. He suffered severe injuries to his legs from shrapnel. He should have been in the back of the truck but Jack always sneaked into the front with the driver so he could see what was going on even though he had been reprimanded for doing so. If he had been in the back of the truck he would have been killed along with several of his colleagues.
He was hospitalised in Sheffield and convalesced in Mablethorpe. It was 9 months before he returned home to Hull. He later suffered from what is now recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder.
John Alfred Flowers died in Hull in 1975 at the ripe old age of 92. He had a son and daughter born before the war and another daughter born after the war. I am proud to say he was my Grandfather, the family all called him Pop.
|