206492 Cpl. Hercules Sossick British Army Royal Army Medical Corps from:15, Lintane Grove,Fulham, London Hercules Sossick was my Grandfather and before WW1 he was a Fine Art Plaster Moulder working in the family business, 'Sossick & Sons Fine Art Moulders', Chelsea. He joined the 1st Middlesex Royal Engineers (Volunteers) in College Street, Chelsea, S.W. on 19/11/1906.
The story that I remember being told was that he was on parade one day when the men were asked if anyone had experience of plaster work. He stepped forward and ended up in the RAMC at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool. He spent the war years there making moulds of stumps and limbs for the manufacture of artificial limbs, which were in such great demand due to the tremendous number of amputees returning from the front. He was transferred to the reserve on 10/11/1919 and returned to his business.
In 1927 he went to work for J.F.Rowley (1919) Ltd. which later became J.E.Hanger & Co. at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton. He worked there for over 30 years and retired as the foreman of the artificial limb repair shop. It was said that if anyone had a squeak or rattle in their artificial limb, my grandfather was the man they went to see. I have a number of photographs taken in the workshops at Alder Hey and have passed copies to the RAMC Museum at Mytchet.
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