| Remembering
the Bradford Pals |
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| Ernest
Wilson, apprentice woolsorter |
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In
the middle of World War 1, on July 1st 1916, 2000 young men from
Bradford left their trenches in Northern France to advance across
no man's land. It was the first hour of the first day of the Battle
of the Somme.
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Sense
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POPPIES
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Scarlet
poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth.
The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol
to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae
in his poem In Flanders Fields.
The poppy quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died
in the First World War and later conflicts.
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In
1974 a 麻豆社 North crew accompanied some of the surviving Bradford
Pals on what was to be their last trip back to the Somme.
Ernest
Wilson was a apprentice woolsorter:
Naturally, you know I was keen, and I went to Belle Vue barracks,
and I went home and I told my mother, 'I've joined the army'
and she said, 'Yes, you have. I'm there in the morning and I'll
fetch you out,' so, of course, when I went, they told me, 'You
are too young. Grow a bit.' Anyway, I was still an apprentice
woolsorter so they sent me with some samples down to Bradford
to different firms. As I'm coming back I call in the recruiting
office. I was only a lad, like. Anyway I go on the scale and
I weigh 108 lbs and the doctor says, 'Oh, this fellow will swell
out,' so they passed me and I got a shilling. I went across
to the Theatre De Luxe and had a right good time. I went back
to work and I told the boss, I'm in the army,' and he said,
'Thank God, we haven't got a navy.' 
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