Archives

Pte. Alexander SMITH – Border Regiment (1898-1977)

A Victory Medal. A name deliberately scratched away. A service number just legible beneath a magnifying glass. It was the only thread available — and it led to the story of Alexander Smith of Pendleton (near Salford), a printer’s assistant who twice lied about his age to serve his country, survived the mud of the Somme, and earned the Military Medal before returning quietly to the streets he had grown up on. His name was scrubbed from his medal, his service records destroyed, and his neighbourhood demolished. This is the story of putting him back together again.

Sjt. Walter NEWTON – 11th Manchester Regiment (1890-1973)

In the early 2000s, a British War Medal appeared for sale online, long separated from the man who had earned it by the passage of time. It is engraved 59226 SJT . W. NEWTON . MANCH . R .—a name, a number, a regiment. Walter Newton was born in Oldham in 1890, enlisted in 1915, and served on the Western Front through some of the most dangerous months of the war. He came home, worked in the cotton mills, and ran a post office with his wife Ethel. He died in 1973, aged 83. This is his story.

Jack The Ripper, Dr John Hewitt & Granddad

During the 1980’s my grandfather Steward Jackson HICKS was a Jack the Ripper researcher, or “Ripperologist” as they are known in the trade. I knew nothing of his grisly hobby until after his death in 1993, and decided now was the time to find out more.