Just Another Hero
by
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Jack's Childhood on Gentleshaw Common
They had been waiting there for an hour listening for Farmer Dickens signal. On the third whistle blast, David Dickens and Peter Dickens leapt out of the bushes and stood towering over the now prostrate Jack.
“Got him Dad! The little bugger won’t escape us. We’re gonna tan your arse boy.” David was victorious.
The ten year old Jack lay silent as Farmer Dickens waddled breathless towards him. Gasping for air, Farmer Dickens announced,
“Right then! Let’s go and see his faither.”
“Oh! Let’s tan his arse first dad. He deserves it and anyway I’ve promised him now. “You can’t go back on a promise once you’ve made it.” David complained.”
“No! We’re gonna do this propa. We’ll let his faither sort him out, then he won’t do it again,” was the farmer’s response.
As they grabbed the still half dressed Jack and pulled him to his feet, the two farm hands were grumbling.
“We’d sooner tan his arse. We promised him. A promise is a promise.”
Jack, looking a bit more relieved knowing the brutes weren’t going to tan his arse, began to wonder if his dad would tan his arse! Meanwhile, Jack’s mates looked on from a safe distance jeering at the farmer and shouting words of encouragement to Jack.
“Hey Tubby, how’s your bladder?” and “Kick him in the nuts Jack.”
Brave words from those with a hundred yards and a hedgerow between them and the three famers Jack thought.
For Jack the way home, just over a mile, was filled with jabs to the ribs which seemed to worsen with every insult that came from his mates to the farmers. By the time he got home, his ribs ached and his eyes were full of tears that were hidden from his assailants. Hearing the noise the neighbours were out on their doorsteps amused at this interruption to the boredom of a Saturday afternoon after the football had finished on the radio.
Jack’s dad was out too. And he didn’t look happy. Mom was on the doorstep scowling and muttering. “Bringing trouble to our door. What will folks think?”
By this time the procession that had gathered behind Jack and his escort had grown to almost thirty. All wanting to see what fate awaited him for this evil deed he had committed.
River Lys at Coutrai
“You two, get yourselves over the other side of the bridge. I want a standing patrol over there
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About the Book
Private Jack Emery served with 'C' Company of the 1/6 South Staffordshire Battalion, a Territorial Army Battalion, which came from the town of Chaseterrace in Staffordshire. This is where the Company's nickname, 'The Terrace Terriers' is derived.
The 1/6 Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment was hastily called to arms to assist Lord Gort’s efforts to stem the flow of the German army that was building along the Rhine. The Battalion was an infantry pioneer battalion. Their usual remit was to build defence systems, guard installations and, when required to, support other units in a fighting role. The Staffords, in April and May1939, built tank traps, road blocks and on many occasions fought alongside regular battalions such as the Green Howards and other Yorkshire regiments. Eventually, worn out and much depleted through arduous physical labour and fighting rearguard actions, they found themselves on the Dunkirk beaches waiting for evacuation.
About the Author
Major Bryan William Emery Rtd., mentioned in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 1993, holder of the Army Cadet Force Medal and Bar, was born in the mining village of Boney Hay near Chaseterrace in Staffordshire, England in 1950. Boney Hay, once surrounded by fields and common land, is the area where Jack, the subject within this book, spent most of his life and Bryan, the author and Jack’s son, grew up. Bryan attended the same school as his dad, Chaseterrace Secondary Modern. He played on the same common land, Gentleshaw Common and yet knew very little about Jack due to his father’s illness and frequent convalescences away from home. He grew up without the guiding hand of a father but with a great deal of support and love from his mother, Ivy.
He joined the Army Cadet Force at the age of thirteen and trained in the same area as Jack on Cannock Wood, a forested plantation near his home. He returned to the Army Cadet Force in 1980 where he was promoted several times until retiring twenty years later with the substantive rank of Major. During his service, he trained with the regular army on many occasions, attending most battle camps in England and Wales.
Bryan spent many years in the field of Education in the area of special educational needs and later, after school tuition. He was also a magistrate for several years in the town of West Bromwich.
Looking forward to his retirement in a few years Bryan hopes that “Just another Hero’ is the first of many books he wants to write. In fact he has been asked to consider a book describing his search for his father’s story and recommends readers watch out for this book’s sequel, ‘In Search of a Hero”.